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BS  2415  .T47  1872 
Thompson,  Joseph  Parrish, 

1819-1879. 
The  theology  of  Christ 


THE 
THEOLOGY    OF    CHRIST. 


THE 


THEOLOGY  OF  CHRIST, 


FROM  HIS  OWN  WORDS. 


A  Deo  docetur,  Deum,  docet,  et  ad  Deum  duett. — Thomas  Aquinas. 


By  JOSEPH  P.  THOMPSON. 


NEW  YORK: 
SCRIBNER,   ARMSTRONG   &   CO., 

SUCCESSORS  TO 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER   &  CO., 

654    BROADWAY. 

1872. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1S70,  bj 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER  k  CO., 
In  the  Office  of  tho  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


JAS.  B.  RODGERS  CO., 

Electrotypers, 
62  &  54  N.  Sixth  St.,  Philadelphia 


REV.  LEONARD  BACON,  D.D.,  LL.D., 

THE  COUNSELLOR  OF  MY  YOUTHFUL  MINISTRY,  THE  CO-LABORER  OF  MY 
RIPER  YEARS, 

THE  CONSTANT  AND  FAITHFUL  FRIEND, 

(ZEIS  VOLUME  I3  GJEtfLZZFULLY  IJTSQIlIgZQ, 

IN  RECOGNITION  OF  A  LIFE  ILLUSTRATING,  BY  PRECEPT  AND  EXAMPLE, 
THE  DOCTRINE  OF  CHRIST. 


PEEFACE. 


Recent  discussions  of  Christianity  as  a  Faith 
have  revolved  about  Christ  as  a  Person ;  and  the 
Life  of  Christ,  that  formerly  was  shaped  into  biog- 
raphy for  the  instruction  of  the  young  and  the 
edification  of  the  devout,  has  become  an  effective 
weapon  of  theological  polemics.  But  while  within 
the  sphere  of  theology  this  new  significance  has 
been  given  to  the  Life  of  Christ,  the  Theology  of 
Christ  Himself  has  hardly  received  the  distinction 
due  to  it  as  the  formative  power  in  the  Christian 
system  both  as  to  faith  and  to  practice.  The  doc- 
trine of  Christ  was  of  the  very  essence  of  His  life, 
and  constitutes  the  true  and  vital  Christianity. 
"  I  am  the  light  of  the  world ;  he  that  followeth  Me 
shall  not  walk  in  darkness,  but  shall  have  the  light 
of  lifer 

This  book  does  not  attempt  to  delineate  the  life 
of  Christ,  but  to  evolve,  directly  and  exclusively  from 
His  own  words,  the  Doctrine  that  He  taught.  The- 
ology has  been  too  much  the  name  of  speculative 
systems,  the  product  of  philosophy  applied  to  the 
Scriptures,  or  of  some  spiritual  experience  evolved 
from  an  individual  soul  and  then  supplemented 
from  the  Scriptures.     But  in  the  teaching  of  Christ, 


PREFACE. 


theology  is  declarative  in  its  form,  and  directly 
practical  in  its  intent.  He  sets  forth  the  truth  of 
God,  and  all  things  spiritual  and  divine,  with  a  spe- 
cific cast  of  doctrine,  and  a  subjective  relation  of 
system,  yet  without  the  formulas  of  logic  or  the 
definitions  of  philosophy.  Hence  a  truly  Christian 
theology  must  be  derived  from  the  interpretation 
of  His  words  by  the  laws  of  exegesis,  and  the  colla- 
tion of  detached  sayings  in  their  relations  to  the 
whole  course  of  His  teaching.  This  has  been 
attempted  in  the  volume  which  is  here  given  to 
the  public. 

It  is  no  easy  task  to  withdraw  one's  mind  from 
the  phrases  and  methods  of  theology  with  which 
it  has  long  been  familiar,  and  to  concentrate  it  upon 
the  interpretation  of  words  spoken  eighteen  centu- 
ries ago ;  it  is  as  difficult  at  least  as  to  extract  from 
Plato  and  Xenophon  the  pure  words  of  Socrates, 
and  to  hold  these  apart  from  all  later  speculations, 
for  independent  investigation.  This,  however,  the 
author  has  sought  to  do ;  and  he  hopes  that  his 
book  will  be  found  as  free  from  any  unconscious 
bias  of  preconceived  opinions  or  beliefs,  as  it  is 
from  the  terminology  of  any  theological  system  or 
school. 

It  is  believed  that  such  a  development  of  the 
Theology  of  Christ  as  is  here  attempted  is  new  in 
English  literature  :  and  only  within  a  recent  period 
has  Germany,  so  prolific  in  every  form  of  Biblical 
and  Theological  criticism,  produced  anything  in 
this    distinct    department    of    Christian    science. 


PREFACE.  Vll 

Among  the  most  important  of  these  recent  works 
are  Dr.  F.  C.  Baur,  Vorlesungen  ilber  N.  T.  Theo- 
logie— a  work  conceived  in  the  spirit  of  the  Tubin- 
gen school  of  criticism;  Drs.  Schmid  and  Weizacker, 
Bib.  Theologie  des  Neuen  Testaments;  Dr.  B.  Weiss, 
Lehrbuch  der  biblischen  Theologie  des  Neuen  Testa- 
ments :  and  Dr.  J.  J.  Van  Oosterzee,  Die  Theologie 
des  Neuen  Testaments,  translated  from  the  Dutch. 
A  particular  account  of  the  last  two  works  will  be 
found  in  the  Appendix.  There  are  also  isolated 
comments  and  discussions  upon  the  doctrines  of 
Christ  in  several  of  the  recent  works  upon  His  life. 

The  author  has  assumed  the  genuineness  of  the 
Gospel  of  St.  John.  This  has  not  been  done,  how- 
ever, without  a  careful  study  of  the  controversy 
touching  the  fourth  Gospel;  and  the  reader  who 
cares  to  investigate  that  question  will  find  mate- 
rials in  the  Appendix. 

It  is  hoped  that  this  treatise  will  commend  itself 
to  the  Faith  and  Charity  of  the  universal  Church ; 
and  also  that  it  will  find  a  specific  use  as  a  text- 
book for  Bible  Classes,  and  for  classes  in  the  English 
course  in  Theological  Seminaries. 

With  the  prayer  that  it  may  guide  and  help 
some  in  the  knowledge  of  the  Truth  as  declared  by 
"  the  Teacher  come  from  God,"  it  is  humbly  offered 
unto  the  Head  of  the  Church,  as  the  fruit  of  years 
of  study  in  His  Word. 

New  York,  Sept.  10,  1870. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 


Christ  a  Preacher. 


page. 
.    1-6 


Preaching  the  chief  function  of  His  life.  1 


He  preached  the  Doctrines  of  a  Positive  Theology. 

His  Words  the  true  Christianity.       ..... 

Doctrine  necessary  in  "preaching  Christ."         .  .  .  4-6 


CHAPTER  II. 

The  Quality  op  Christ's  Preaching.             .                        •  •      6-19 

Impression  of  His  preaching  on  contemporaries.            .  .              6-8 

Not  due  to  the  extent  nor  profundity  of  His  discourses.      .  .         8-9 

His  doctrine  of  God,  of  Man,  and  the  Future  State.       .  .             9-H 

The  depth,  simplicity  and  fulness  of  His  teachings.               .  .11-15 

Their  influence  upon  human  thought,  character  and  society.  .           15-17 

The  world  cannot  outgrow  His  teachings.                              .  .          17 

CHAPTER  III. 

The  Kingdom  op  God.  ......        19-32 

Christ  preached  "  the  kingdom,  of  God."         ...  19 

Jehovah  the  one  Deliverer,  as  the  germ  of  the  Theocracy.  .         20-25 

Hence  the  kingdom  was  internal  and  spiritual.          .             .  .25 

Christ's  Presence  realizes  the  kingdom  to  the  soul.          .  .              26 

Its  rewards  and  glories  spiritual.        .             .             .             .  .27 

The  Church  a  form  of  the  Kingdom.          .             .  ■           .  .               29 

Dr.  van  Oosterzee's  views  of  this  Kingdom.               .            .  30,  31 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Thb  New  Birth.             .......  32-49 

A  Gentile  Proselyte  was  "born  again."              ...  33 

The  mistake  of  Nicodemus.               .....  34 

The  birth  psychological  and  divine        .             .                           •  35 

An  inward  change  required  by  the  nature  of  the  Kingdom.            .  36 

Also  by  the  wickedness  of  the  human  heart.      ...  3S 

Sin  universal  in  the  race.     ....  .40 

Repentance  and  renunciation  necessary.           ...  41 

This  effected  through  the  divine  Spirit.      ....  42-15 

The  conversion  of  Paul.             .....  45-47 

Sin  made  necessary  the  coming  of  Christ.              ...  47 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  V. 


Salvation  made  possible  through  the  Death  of  Christ.             .  49-67 

The  Son  of  Man  "  lifted  up ;"  origin  and  meaning  of  the  phrase.  49-52 

This  death  the  means  of  salvation.             ....  53 

The  death  in  the  plan  of  His  mission.            .             .            .  55-57 

Analogy  of  the  brazen  serpent.                   ....  57 

The  plague  of  fiery  serpents.            .   .             .             .             .  57-60 

Moral  lessons  of  the  plague.           .....  60 

The  brazen  serpent  a  type  of  mercy.              ...  62 

Christ's  death  a  ransom.                ,               ....  63 

Meaning  of  \vrpov  in  the  Greek  classics  and  the  Septuagint.  63 

Christ  died  for  our  salvation.       .....  65 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Salvation  limited  only  by  Unbelief. 

The  provision  of  mercy  unlimited.  '        . 

Believing,  the  necessary  condition. 

The  "drawing"  of  the  Father,  not  arbitrary  but  gracious. 

Men  perish  through  unbelief  and  perversity  of  will. 


70-75 
75-78 


CHAPTER  VII. 

The  Nature  of  Religion. 

Varieties  of  religious  development. 

The  intellectual,  formal,  humanitary,  imaginath 

tried  before  Christ. 
Christ  seated  Religion  in  the  heart. 
All  religious  acts  must  be  spiritual. 
The  Praying-machine  of  Thibet. 
Religion  a  principle  of  holy  living. 
This  the  true  theocracy. 
This  Christ's  rule  of  personal  life.     ,    . 
An  elective  principle. 
"  Good  works  "  attest  it. 
All  systems  and  lives  to  be  brought  to  this  test. 


pietistic,  all 


79-93 
.   79 

80-83 
83 

.  84 
85 

.  86 
87 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  Spirituality  of  Worship. 

Our  idea  of  spirit  derived  from  consciousness. 

God  a  personal  spirit.  .... 

Christ  did  not  abolish  external  worship.     . 

He  made  worship  the  offering  of  the  soul  to  its  Father. 

Such  worship  is  rational.     .... 

Opposed  to  ritualism  and  sentimentality. 

Christian  worship  adapted  to  universal  man. 


93-104 

94 

95 

96 

97-99 

99 

100-102 

102 


CHAPTER  IX. 

A  Living  Providence. 

The  faith  of  «  Sojourner  Truth."     . 
God's  hand  in  the  overthrow  of  Slavery. 
Mr.  Buckle's  theory  of  events. 


104-119 

104,  117 

105 

106 


CONTENTS 


Comte's  view. 

Positivism  and  Christianity  irreconcilable. 

God  in  the  "course  of  Nature." 

Providence  universal  and  particular. 

Special  divine  intervention. 

Harmony  of  Providence  with  Reason. 

"  "         with  Free  Will. 

"  "        with  General  Laws. 


107 
107 
108-110 
111 
US 
114 
115 
116 


CHAPTER  X. 


Of  Prater. 

Prayer  an  Instinct. 
Schleierinacher's  definition. 
Prayer  based  upon  Providence. 
A  direct  address  to  the  Father. 
Prayer  for  Temporal  Things. 
Prayer  has  positive  influence  with 
Professor  Tyndall's  objection. 
Conditions  of  successful  prayer. 
The  Power  of  Prayer. 


God. 


119-133 
119 
119 

120,  124 

120-123 
123 

124-130 
128 
130 
131 


CHAPTER  XL 

Christ's  Oneness  with  the  Father.        ....  133-150 

Christ's  self-Assertion.          ......  133-136 

Mr.  Liddon's  view.          ......  134 

Christ  did  not  openly  proclaim  nis  divinity  at  first.                        .  137 

Meaning  of  the  title  "  Son  of  God."             .  138-146 
a,  as  used  by  demons,  138.  b,  by  enemies  139.  c,  by  the  cen- 
turion 139.  d,  by  the  High  Priest  139.  e,  by  the  lisciples  140. 
/,  by  Christ  Himself  141. 
The  charge  of  "  blasphemy  "  shows  that  Christ  used  this  as  a  title 

of  divinity.            ......  143 

His  oneness  with  the  Father  not  moral  but  essential.         .             .  146 

Christ's  divinity  taught  by  Himself.      ....  148 

The  testimony  of  Thomas.                .                                      .  148 


CHAPTER  XII. 

The  Comforter,  the  Holy  Ghost. 

The  Holy  Ghost  the  Revealer  of  Truth.      . 

"  "         Source  of  Supernatural  gift 

He  abides  in  the  Church. 
The  Spirit  a  divine  person. 
The  Gospels  an  inspired  record. 
Personal  uses  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 


150-160 

.  150-153 

and  powers.  153 

154 

.  155-157 

157 

158 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Paradise.  •••.... 

Prominence  of  Eschatology  in  Christ's  Teachings.        "      . 
His  promise  to  the  dying  thief.  .... 

Views  of  early  Fathers  touching  the  state  of  departed  spirits.' 
The  Rabbis  on  Paradise       .  .  . 

Egyptian  doctrine  of  the  future  State.  . 


160-173 
1G0 
161 
162 
163 
164 


CONTENTS. 


Dante's  Paradiso.    ..... 

164 

Paradise  derived  from  the  Sanscrit. 

164 

Its  use  in  the  Septuagint.    .... 

166 

The  Primitive  Paradise.              .... 

168 

Christ's  use  of  the  term.       .... 

170 

Elements  of  happiness  in  Paradise. 

171 

Biblical  Psychology.             .... 

172 

Paradise  distinguished  from  Heaven.                 .            . 

173 

The  final  consummation.      .... 

174 

The  grandeur  of  Redemption. 

176 

CHAPTER  XIV. 


The  Resurrection  of  the  Dead.        . 
Care  of  Christianity  for  the  body. 
Its  sympathy  with  the  heart.  .... 

Meaning  of  ai/dorao-is  in  the  Greek  classics,  the  Septuagint 
the  Apocrypha.        ..... 

The  raising  of  Lazarus.        ..... 

Christ's  answer  to  the  Sadducees. 

His  discourse  in  John  V.     . 

His  conversation  with  Martha.  .  .  . 

Christ  Himself  the  Resurrection.     •  .  .  . 

Miracle  of  His  own  Resurrection.  .  .        -     . 

Believers  exempt  from  Death..  .... 

The  scope  of  Redemption.  .... 

The  Christian  faith  a  finality.  .... 


and 


178-198 
178 
179 

180-185 

185,  191 
186 
187 
189 
190 
192 

.  194 
195 

.        196 


CHAPTER  XV. 


The  Final  Judgment. 

Christ's  Prerogative  of  Judgment. 
The  Judgment  public  and  formal. 
Retribution  taught  in  Nature. 
Christ's  Life  and  Word  a  present  Judge. 
The  Judgment  universal. 

"  at  a  set  time — "that  Day." 

Our  Humanity  in  the  Judge. 
Glory  of  the  Incarnation. 


198-211 
198 
199 
200 
201 
204 
206 
207 

208-210 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


The  Blessedness  of  the  Saints. 

Christ's  promise  of  the  "new  wine." 

Spiritual  significance  of  this  festival  of  love  and  joy. 

Saints  in  heaven  enjoy  the  near  presence  of  their  Lord. 

They  are  exalted  in  honor. 

They  have  the  approbation  of  the  Father. 

The  features  of  heavenly  bliss. 

Conditions  of  admission  to  heaven. 


211 
211-215 
214 
216 
2L7 
218 
219 
219-221 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

Future  Punishment.     .... 
Christ  preached  the  condemnation  of  unbelief. 
His  warnings.  .... 


222-237 
222 


CONTENTS. 

Penal  consequences  in  Nature. 

Christ  taught  a  personal  and  positive  retribution. 

Penalty  exists  in  fact. 

Is  recognized  as  just. 

Natural  evil  is  inflicted  for  moral  offenses.'      . 

The  higher  claims  of  moral  law.      . 

The  Justice  of  a  personal  reckoning. 

Retribution  due  to  the  grandeur  of  virtue. 

The  dignity  of  man  requires  a  moral  law,  with  penalty 

Justice  the  strength  of  Society.       . 

Christ's  use  of  metaphor. 

KoAao-ts  denotes  a  literal  punishment.    "     . 

Aiwuos  means  everlasting. 


X1U 

224-225 
226 
227 
227 

228,  229 
229 
230 
231 
232 
233 
234 
235 
236 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Christ's  Doctrine  ottr  Spiritual  Sacrament. 
Spirituality  of  Christ's  teaching. 
His  use  of  strong  sensible  language. 
Neander  on  Eating  His  flesh. 
Transubstantiation. 
The  Friends' view  of  Sacraments. 
Christ  appointed  Sacraments. 
True  Significance  of  the  Supper. 


237-248 
237 
238 
240 

241-243 
243 
243 

245-247 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE£iTtR!!!rfCHR!fCr°\PLETE  AS  A  »=™latios  from  God. 
Cnnst  spake  from  the  Father. 

Yet  as  a  self-revelation. 

Why  did  not  Christ  reveal  more". 

He  addressed  Himself  not  to  curiosity  but  to  necessity. 

He  sought  to  restore  man  to  God.  . 

For  this  His  teaching  was  complete. 

The  vast  range  of  His  teaching,  as  to  subje'ets  and  application. 

A  Revelation  for  Higher  Truths.  .  ^ 

His  doctrine  radical  and  revolutionary. 

Summary  of  His  Doctrine. 

Christianity  cannot  be  outgrown. 


250 


254 


259 


248 
248 
249 
-252 
252 
253 
254 
■257 
257 
258 
261 
262 


APPENDIX  I. 

The    Genuineness  of  the  Gospel  of  John. 
Characteristics  of  the  fourth  Gospel. 
Views  of  Strauss  and  Baur. 
Internal  evidences  of  genuineness. 
Agreements  between  the  Synoptics  and  John 
ihc  miracles  in  John's  Gospel. 
The  style  of  the  Gospel. 
Neander  on  John. 

External  evidences  of  genuineness.       '      . 
Icotimony  of  Irenmu,  Clement,  Tertulliar,  and  PoLcratea 
Testimony  of  Volenti™,  Mar'eion,  BasUide^' 
Bleek  s  Summary  of  the  Argument.     . 


Justin  Martyr 


264-275 
264 
265 
266 
267 
263 
269 
270 
271 
271 
272 

273-275 


xjv  CONTENTS. 

APPENDIX  II. 

Dr.  Van  Oosterzee's  Theology  of  the  New  Testament. 
Science  of  Biblical  Theology.  •  •  •  ■ 

Old  Testament  Foundations;  Mosaism,  Prophetism  and  Juda 
The  kingdom  of  God,  in  its  subjects,  blessings  and  consummation. 
The  Theology  of  the  fourth  Gospel.         ... 

APPENDIX  III. 

Dr.  Weiss  on  Future  Punishment.  ....  2S0~^ 

Features  of   Hades.  .... 

•^       -i i  _:„:t„.i  „,,««  +V.o  onul  ....  4°* 

283 
283 


275-2S0 
276 

276,  277 
273 

279 


Punishment  visited  upon  the  soul 

No  resurrection  of  the  wicked. 

Their  punishment  eternal  in  the  spirit 


APPENDIX  IV. 


The  Intermediate  State '  2S4 

Views  of  Delitzsch.  ...•••  «°* 

Christ's  descent  into  Hades.  .  •  •  •  ■        ," 


Body,  Soul  and  Spirit 

The  body  in  the  intermediate  State, 

Views  of  Lange. 


2S5 

285 


THE  THEOLOGY  OF  CHRIST. 


CHAPTER  I. 

CHRIST  A  PREACHER. 

''Christ  was  a  Preacher.  He  began  His  public  life  by- 
preaching  in  the  synagogues  of  Galilee;  He  closed  it  by 
preaching  in  the  porch  of  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem.  He 
who  was  Himself  the  matter  of  the  Gospel  in  the  preaching 
of  the  apostles,  and  is  now  the  constant  theme  of  evangelic 
preaching,  was  the  first  preacher  of  His  own  Gospel,  and 
made  preaching  the  chief  function  of  His  life.  That  He 
manifested  God  by  works  of  power,  that  He  exhibited  a 
perfect  Humanity  through  a  sinless  life  of  love,  that  He 
constituted  a  new  community  to  be  known  as  His  Church, 
that  He  suffered  and  died  for  a  testimony  unto  the  truth 
and  for  the  redemption  of  mankind — all  this  does  not 
exhaust  nor  embody  the  story  of  the  mission  of  Christ  as 
given  in  the  Gospels.  From  first  to  last  He  is  there  the 
Preacher. 

Baptism  was  appointed  by  Him  as  the  rite  of  initiation 
into  His  kingdom;  but  "Jesus  himself  baptized  not."1 
John  had  insisted  hardly  less  upon  baptism  than  upon 
repentance ;  but  after  that  John  was  put  in  prison,  Jesus, 
taking  up  the  work  of  reformation,  came  into  Galilee,  not 
baptizing  with  water,  but  "preaching  the  Gospel  of  the 
kingdom  of  God,  and  saying,  the  time  is  fulfilled,  and  the 
kingdom  of  God  is  at  hand ;  repent  ye,  and  believe  the 

i  John  iv.  2. 
I 


2  THE   THEOLOGY    OF    CHRIST. 

Gospel."  l  The  priestly  office  was  exalted  by  Him  into  a 
spiritual  mediatorship,  when  He  made  direct  personal 
intercession  with  the  Father  for  His  disciples/  yet  He 
neither  offered  sacrifices  nor  founded  a  priesthood,  but 
Himself  preached  and  commissioned  others  to  preach,  "the 
Gospel  of  the  kingdom." 3  A  king  He  was,  with  authority 
to  give  laws  and  to  change  customs  and  institutions  in 
religion,  in  society,  in  the  state — in  all  this  demanding 
the  homage  of  the  souls  of  men, — yet  He  wore  no  semb- 
lance of  royalty,  but  rested  the  evidence  of  His  kingship 
in  that  He  "came  into  the  world  that  He  should  bear 
witness  unto  the  truth," 4  and  the  evidence  of  His  Messiah- 
ship  upon  the  fact  that  "  the  poor  have  the  Gospel  preached 
unto  them."5  "While  He  founded  a  Church,  and  made 
provision  for  its  officers,  its  sacraments  and  its  discipline,6 
He  enjoined  it  upon  His  apostles  to  teach  His  command- 
ments, and  "that  repentance  and  remission  of  sins  should 
be  preached  in  His  name  among  all  nations." 7 

Preaching  being  the  characteristic  feature  of  the  life  of 
Christ,  no  true  understanding  of  His  mission  can  be  had 
without  a  knowledge  of  what  He  preached  as  the  truth  of 
God.  The  Gospels  which  give  us  the  record  of  His  life 
contain  also  a  Gospel  which  He  preached ;  and  this  Gospel 
comprises  not  only  the  rules  of  practical  morality,  the 
lessons  and  precepts  of  humanity  and  religion,  but  the 
Doctrines  of  a  Positive  Theology.  It  is  sometimes  alleged 
that  Christ  taught  j>ersonally  none  of  those  doctrines  which 
are  commonly  set  forth  by  the  Church  in  her  creeds  as 
distinctive  of  the  Christian  faith,  but  directed  His  teachings 
to  practical  life,  inculcating  the  virtues,  graces  and  charities 
that  would  reform,  adorn  and  bless  society,  and  elevate 
mankind : — that  the  doctrines  of  regeneration  and  atone- 

1  Mark  i.  14,  15.        2  John  xiv.  16,  and  c.  xvii.      !  Mat.  ix.  35,  x.  7,  xi.  1. 
*  John  xvii.  37.  5  Mat.  xi.  5.  «  Mat.  xvi.  18,  19. 

7  Mat.  xxviii.  20;  Luke  xxiv.  47. 


HIS   WORDS   THE    TRUE   CHRISTIANITY.  3 

nient,  of  the  divinity  of  Christ  and  the  personality  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  were  woven  out  of  His  sayings  by  speculative 
minds  among  His  followers,  after  Jesus  had  finished  His 
personal  testimony  of  truth  and  goodness, — that  such  doc- 
trines owe  more  to  St.  Paul  and  St.  Augustine  than  to 
Christ,  and  belong  not  to  the  original  substance  of  the 
Gospel,  but  to  a  philosophical  theology  that  has  grown  up 
around  it.  This  notion  is  somewhat  favored  by  a  common 
method  of  teaching  theology — stating  doctrines  in  technical 
terms  and  with  scientific  nicety,  tracing  their  development 
in  the  history  of  the  Church  and  of  schools  of  philosophy, 
and  finally  authenticating  them  by  citations  from  the 
Scriptures  used  mainly  as  proof-texts.  For  this  purpose 
the  writings  of  Paul,  as  the  logical  expounder  of  the 
Christian  faith,  are  drawn  upon  more  largely  than  other 
portions  of  the  New  Testament ; — the  Pauline  conception 
being  taken  as  the  basis  of  the  Christian  dogmatics,  and 
the  words  of  Jesus  being  used  to  verify  the  statement 
of  His  doctrines  in  the  form  of  theological  propositions. 
To  reverse  this  method  is  to  derive  the  Christian  Theology 
primarily  and  directly  from  the  words  of  Christ — a  process 
in  which  we  have  to  do  not  with  the  creeds  of  the  Church 
nor  the  formulas  of  the  theologians,  but  simply  with  the 
principles  of  interpretation.  So  far  as  the  very  words  of 
Christ  have  been  preserved,  these  form  the  essence  of  Chris- 
tianity, just  as  the  original  sayings  of  Socrates  as  preserved 
by  his  disciples  are  the  substance  of  the  Socratic  wisdom. 
To  the  first  preacher  of  Christianity  must  we  look  for  the 
freshest,  truest,  best  conception  of  the  system.  In  His 
words  we  find  a  proper  theology — not  formulated,  indeed, 
nor  systematized,  yet  expressed  in  doctrines  to  be  severally 
believed, — doctrines  set  forth  with  a  certain  gradation  of 
time  and  thought,  or  in  a  certain  order  of  development 
— and  these  doctrines  interwoven  with  the  whole  texture 
of  the  precepts  and  promises  of  the  Gospel. 


4  THE   THEOLOGY   OF    CHRIST. 

The  study  of  the  doctrines  preached   by    Christ  may 
exhibit  the  Christian  faith  in  a  phase  differing  somewhat 
from  that  presented  through  any  sect  or  school ;  especially 
will  it  give  to  that  faith  a  life  and  warmth,  a  power  of 
renewing  and  edifying,  that  is  too  much  suppressed  under 
the   technicalities   of  creeds.      To   many   the   very  word 
"doctrine"  brings  up  reminiscences  of  the  Catechism  as  a 
school-boy  task,  or  of  a  formal  text-book  in  theology,  of 
dry,  stiff  propositions,  having  neither  spiritual  warmth  nor 
practical  utility.     But  the  doctrines  that  Christ  preached 
have  as  direct  a  bearing  upon  our  lives  as  His  precepts ; 
and,  if  we  will  but  suffer  it,  will  come  home  to  our  hearts 
with  the  emphasis  of  positive  practical  duties.     Indeed  the 
duties  of  the  Christian  life  derive  their  obligation  from  the 
doctrines  that  make  up  the  Christian  faith.     There  is  a 
good  deal  of  cant  now-a-days  about  "preaching  Christ." 
In  a  great  Christian  Convention  it  was  said  lately,  "  the 
churches  are  dying  of  Theology ;    ministers  must  preach 
Christ,"  and  the  sentiment  was  received  with  applause. 
But  Christ  Himself  preached  theology,  and  it  is  not  possible 
to  preach  Christ  except  one  shall  preach  the  doctrines  that 
He  taught  and  that  are  the  substance  of  His  gospel.     Shall 
one  preach  that  Jesus  is  the  Saviour  of  mankind  ?     But  this 
is  a  doctrine,  to  be  "illustrated  from  His  life  and  death,  and 
confirmed  by  His  own  words.     Shall  one  preach  that  men 
must  repent  and  believe,  that  they  may  be  saved  ?    But  this 
again  is  a  doctrine,  to  be  expounded,  proved,  enforced. 
Shall  the  preacher,  with  Paul  "determine  not  to  know 
anything,  save  Jesus  Christ  and  Him  crucified  ?"  *     But  the 
relation  of  Christ's  death  to  our  salvation,  of  all  doctrines 
most  requires  clearness  of  statement  and  cogency  of  proof. 
If  the  Church  is  languid  and  feeble  in  face  of  Rationalism, 
Ritualism,  and  Materialism,  it  is  for  lack  of  a  vigorous 
grasp  of  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel.     Preaching  has  run 

i  1  Cor.  ii.  2. 


HOW   TO    PREACH    CHRIST.  5 

too  much  to  the  superficial,  the  fanciful,  the  sensational ; 
men  go  to  Church  that  they  may  be  pleased  and  excited 
rather  than  instructed,  for  some  transitory  play  upon  the 
imagination  and  emotions  rather  than  the  lasting  conviction 
of  the  understanding;  whereas  what  most  they  need  is 
that  the  intellectual  and  moral  nature  be  lifted  up  to  the 
great  thoughts  of  Christ,  and  so  filled  with  His  Spirit. 
Christ  is  best  preached  in  the  grand  doctrines  whereby  He 
Himself  preached  the  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom  of  God. 1 

1  On  Christ  as  a  teacher  of  Theology,  see  Dr.  B.  Weiss,  Lehrbuch  der  Bihlis- 
chen  Theologie  des  Ncuen  Testaments ;  and  Dr.  J.  J.  Van  Oosterzee,  Die  The- 
ologie des  Neuen  Testaments.  A  good  abstract  of  this  latter  work,  with  trans- 
lations, is  given  in  the  American  Presbyterian  Review  for  July,  1S70.  This 
author  says,  "  To  the  teaching  of  the  Lord  we  must  ascribe  a  definite  soterio- 
logical  character.  In  other  words,  all  that  the  Lord  announces  respecting  God 
and  man,  sin  and  grace,  the  present  and  the  future  life,  all,  especially  that  lie 
testifies  respecting  Himself,  stands  in  direct  relation  to  the  salvation  that  He 
came  to  reveal  and  bestow.  It  is  not  so  much  religious  truth  in  general  as 
specifically  saving  truth  that  is  brought  to  light  by  Him.  The  possibility  of 
exhibiting  the  instruction  of  our  Lord,  with  all  its  riches,  as  one  whole  lies  just 
here,  that  it  manifests  from  beginning  to  end  the  character  of  Gospel.  Luke 
iv.  16,22:  John  vi.  6S." 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE   QUALITY   OF   CHRIST'S   PREACHING. 

"Never  man  spake  like  this  man/' '  said  the  officers  who 
being  sent  to  arrest  Jesus  were  themselves  arrested  by  the 
spell  of  His  words.  This  spontaneous  testimony  of  His 
contemporaries  is  also  the  deliberate  verdict  of  history. 
All  the  ages  since  have  not  produced  a  competitor  nor  even 
a  successor  of  Jesus  as  a  teacher  of  wisdom  and  truth. 
His  preaching  always  made  upon  His  hearers  the  impression 
of  something  extraordinary  in  its  character  and  peculiar  to 
Himself.  At  His  first  discourse  at  Nazareth,  the  home  of 
His  youth,  "  all  bare  Him  witness,  and  wondered  at  the 
gracious  words  which  proceeded  out  of  His  mouth." 2  Nor 
was  this  the  novelty  of  a  first  appearance,  for  the  surprise 
was  none  the  less  when,  a  year  later,  after  His  preaching 
Was  widely  known,  He  again  taught  at  Nazareth  "  insomuch 
that  they  were  astonished  and  said,  Whence  hath  this  man 
this  wisdom  and  these  mighty  words?  Is  not  this  the 
carpenter's  son  ?  Whence  hath  this  man  all  these  things  ?"  3 
At  Capernaum,  where  He  preached  so  constantly,  "they 
were  astonished  at  His  doctrine,  for  His  word  was  with 
power." 4  The  same  effect  was  produced  by  the  sermon  on 
the  mount,  at  the  close  of  Avhich  it  is  said  "the  people 
were  astonished  at  His  doctrine ;  for  He  taught  them  as 
one  having  authority,  and  not  as  the  scribes." 5 

Once,  for  the  purpose  of  entrapping  Jesus,  the  most 
adroit  and  learned  among  the  Jews  concocted  questions  of 
casuistry,  touching  politics,  theology,  and  morality,  to  be 

i  John  vii.  46.  *  Luke  iv.  22.  »  Matt.  xiii.  54. 

*  Luke  iy.  32.  6  Matt.  vii.  28.  29. 


TESTIMONY   OF    HIS    CONTEMPORARIES.  7 

put  to  Him  in  presence  of  the  people.  First  the  politicians 
tried  Him  with  the  question  of  paying  tribute  to  Cesar ; 
but  when  they  got  His  answer,  "  they  marvelled,  and  left 
Him,  and  went  their  way." J  Next,  the  Sadducees  sought 
to  embarrass  Him  upon  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection, 
but  He  put  them  also  to  silence,  and  the  multitude,  hearing 
His  reply,  "  were  astonished  at  His  teaching." 2  Last  of 
all,  a  lawyer  demanded  a  categorical  answer  to  the  question 
"  AVhieh  is  the  great  commandment,"  but  after  the  reply  of 
Jesus,  followed  by  His  own  questions  touching  the  Messiah, 
"  no  man  was  able  to  answer  Him  a  word,  neither  durst 
any  man  from  that  day  forth,  ask  Him  any  more  questions." 3 
When  Jesus  stood  before  Pilate,  the  Governor  was  so  awed 
by  the  words  and  bearing  of  his  prisoner,  that  he  sought  to 
escape  the  responsibility  of  condemning  Him.  Some  such 
impression  of  the  extraordinary,  the  marvellous,  and  even 
of  the  divine,  was  a  common  effect  of  the  preaching  of 
Jesus  among  all  classes  of  hearers.  So  strong  was  this 
impression  upon  the  disciples  who  heard  Him  in  every 
kind  of  address — parables,  proverbs,  set  discourses,  public 
disputations — and  also  in  the  freedom  of  familiar  conversa- 
tion, that  they  said  to  Him,  "Thou  hast  the  words  of 
eternal  life :  and  we  believe  and  are  sure  that  thou  art  that 
Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God." 4 

"What  were  the  qualities  of  the  preaching  to  which  such 
effects  were  ascribed  by  the  contemporaries  of  Christ  we 
are  not  left  to  conjecture,  since  we  can  measure  their 
impressions  by  our  own,  and  by  the  accumulated  testimony 
of  the  ages  since.  Of  the  eloquence  of  Pericles,  who  was 
said  to  carry  upon  his  tongue  the  thunderbolts  of  Jove,  not 
a  fragment  survives  to  certify  his  fame  as  the  greatest  of 
Athenian  orators.  The  fragmentary  remains  of  other 
orators  of  antiquity  do  not  always  sustain  their  reputation 
in  their  time.     There  is  in  the  printed  page  so  little  of 

i  Matt.  xxii.  22.      2  Matt.  xxii.  33.      8  Matt.  xxii.  46.      *  John  ri.  63,  69. 


THE  THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 


strength  or  lire  that  one  marvels  wherein  lay  the  charm 
that  gave  such  effect  to  the  spoken  words,  and  feels  that 
much  which  is  ascribed  to  the  wisdom  and  eloquence  of  the 
speaker  lay  in  the  feelings  of  the  hearer,  or  the  circum- 
stances of  the  hour.  A  few,  like  Demosthenes  and  Cicero, 
have  left  orations  that  justify  their  fame,  and  serve  as 
models  for  modern  eloquence.  And  here  and  there,  in  the 
literary  history  of  the  world,  is  one  whose  words  of  wisdom 
and  beauty  have  gathered  fame  with  the  ages,  and  are 
even  more  appreciated  now  than  they  were  in  their  time. 
Plato  and  Shakespeare  have  a  wider  audience  of  mankind, 
and  a  higher  repute  with  men  of  thought  and  culture  than 
in  their  own  generations ; — their  penetrative  and  compre- 
hensive wisdom  is  not  dimmed  by  contrast  with  any  of 
their  successors.  Now  in  respect  of  the  words  of  Jesus 
Christ,  which  so  wrought  upon  the  minds  of  His  contem- 
poraries, and  have  so  ruled  the  thought  and  life  of  after- 
times,  it  is  possible  to  measure  and  weigh  their  significance, 
to  compare  them  with  the  utterances  of  any  other  teacher, 
and  to  analyze  the  sources  of  their  power.  His  preaching 
remains  upon  record  to  testify  that  "  never  man  spake  like 
this  man." 

This  impression  of  the  transcendent  worth  of  the  sayings 
of  Christ  does  not  arise  in  any  degree  from  the  extent  of 
His  discourses.  There  .are  authors  whose  works  are  a 
library  of  themselves;  and  as  we  look  upon  the  shelves 
where  twenty,  thirty,  forty  volumes  represent  a  Dickens, 
a  Scott,  a  Schiller,  a  Thiers,  a  Voltaire,  an  Owen,  a  Bacon, 
we  are  amazed  at  the  prolific  genius,  the  patient  industry, 
or  the  vast  erudition  that  such  works  display.  But  all 
that  is  recorded  of  the  sayings  of  Christ,  together  with 
the  history  of  His  life,  is  contained  in  a  duodecimo  of 
eighty  pages; — less  than  one  half  of  the  New  Testament 
is  the  total  of  what  Jesus  said  and  did, — less  than  one 
fourth  is  all  that  is  preserved  of  what  He  himself  spake. 


THE   MATTER   OF   CHRIST  S   PREACHING.  9 

Neither  is  the  superiority  of  Jesus  as  a  preacher  due  to 
an  air  of  learning  or  of  profundity  in  His  utterances.  A 
few  names — but  only  the  selectest  few — are  accepted  as 
authorities  in  their  several  departments  of  literature  or 
science,  because  of  the  accuracy  of  their  knowledge  and 
the  solidity  of  their  attainments;  others,  by  an  encyclo- 
paedic acquaintance  with  the  results  of  science,  win  a  more 
transient  reputation  of  universal  knowledge ;  while  others 
— more  commonly  in  schools  of  metaphysics — are  taken  to 
be  wise  because  they  seem  to  be  profound.  But  this  New 
Testament  preacher  makes  no  show  of  learning,  and  deals 
with  no  subject  that  calls  for  book-knowledge.  Science, 
physical  or  metaphysical,  He  does  not  touch  upon ;  political 
and  social  questions  He  alludes  to  only  incidentally  or  by 
way  of  inference;  but  of  truths  that  concern  one's  spiritual 
nature,  and  of  duties  between  man  and  man  and  from  man 
toward  God,  He  speaks  as  never  man  spake,  before  nor 
since.  This  is  true  equally  of  the  Matter  of  His  speech, 
of  the  Manner  of  it,  and  of  its  Effects  upon  human  thought, 
character,  and  society. 

For  the  Matter  of  His  teaching — to  anticipate  in  part 
what  will  be  fully  brought  out  in  future  chapters — take 
for  instance  His  doctrine  of  God : — a  Spirit  to  be  approached 
with  spiritual  worship  and  with  sincerity  of  heart;  so  pure, 
so  holy,  so  good,  that  absolute  perfection  is  to  be  perfect  as 
our  Father  in  heaven;  governing  the  world  with  a  Provi- 
dence so  minute  that  the  hairs  of  our  heads  are  numbered, 
so  gentle  that  not  a  sparrow  falleth  to  the  ground  without 
our  Father;  so  kind  that  one  can  have  no  cause  for  anxiety 
in  temporal  things,  if  he  will  but  trust  in  God ;  a  Moral 
Governor  also,  who  makes  the  law  of  holy  love  the  absolute 
rule  of  life  and  blessedness,  who  searches  the  heart  by  this 
law,  who  estimates  character  by  its  standard,  and  who  will 
hereafter  judge  all  men  by.  it  in  their  motives  and  their 
deeds; — but  while   thus  supreme  as   Ruler  and   Judge, 


10  THE   THEOLOGY    OF   CHRIST. 

asserting  over  mankind  His  holy  and  universal  authority, 
yet  compassionate  toward  the  guilty,  seeking  to  save  them 
from  their  sins  and  bring  them  into  loving  fellowship  with 
Himself  as  their  Father: — a  God  whose  holiness  is  love 
and  whose  love  would  have  men  become  perfect  in  holiness 
that  they  may  be  perfect  in  blessedness.  "Whoever  will 
compare  this  Theology  of  Jesus,  item  by  item,  and  in  its 
grand  totality,  with  the  speculations  of  philosophers  con- 
cerning the  essence  and  nature  of  the  Supreme  Being  and 
His  agency  in  the  world,  and  with  the  theories  by  which 
moralists  have  sought  to  harmonize  truth,  justice,  love, 
holiness  in  the  character  of  God,  must  confess  that  never 
man  spake  like  this  man — never  man  formed  a  concep- 
tion of  the  divine  Being  so  clear,  so  positive,  so  complete, 
so  absolute  in  every  perfection,  and  so  beautiful  in  the 
harmony  of  all,  so  majestic  in  character  and  sovereignty 
yet  so  approachable  by  man,  so  lofty  and  glorious,  yet  so 
gracious  and  so  near! 

The  same  transcendent  quality  appears  in  the  substance 
of  Christ's  doctrine  of  man: — a  personal  soul,  a  spiritual 
being,  and  as  such  worth  more  to  himself  than  the  whole 
world;  a  sinner  whose  heart  is  a  fountain  of  evil,  yet 
capable  of  becoming  pure  and  holy  as  a  child  of  God; 
an  immortal  spirit,  who  by  virtue  of  his  character,  shall 
hereafter  take  his  place  either  with  spirits  of  darkness  or 
with  the  angels  that  behold  the  face  of  God ;  a  moral  being 
created  for  love,  and  for  whom  the  fellowship  of  human 
love  would  make  a  perfect  society  and  loving  God  a  present 
heaven.  Whoever  will  take  this  anthropology  of  Christ 
and  compare  it  with  scientific  theories  of  the  origin  and 
end  of  man,  and  metaphysical  speculations  touching  his 
nature,  his  capacity,  and  his  future,  must  confess  that  never 
man  spake  like  this  man: — never  did  philosopher  form  of 
Humanity  a  picture  so  true,  an  ideal  so  high,  suggest  a 
character  so  noble,  and  make  this  possible  by  living  ex- 


THE   MANNER   OF   CHRIST'S    PREACHING.  11 

ample,  or  open  to  the  Race  so  grand  and  glorious  a  future; 
and  never  did  philanthropist  kindle  such  enthusiasm  of 
love  for  Humanity  iteelf. 

This  superhuman  quality  in  the  preaching  of  Christ  is 
even  more  impressive  in  Plis  doctrine  of  the  Resurrection. 
A  belief  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul — a  belief  that  seems 
rooted  in  the  soul  itself — was  widely,  though  perhaps 
vaguely  entertained,  long  before  the  time  of  Christ;  and 
the  practice  of  mummification  among  the  Egyptians  was 
based  upon  the  expectation  of  a  return  of  the  soul  to  the 
body ;  but  he  who  will  ponder  Christ's  assurance  of  a  final 
victory  over  death  and  the  grave  and  of  a  personal  identity 
not  only  realized  in  consciousness  but  manifested  in  outward 
appearance,  and  will  reflect  upon  the  dignity  that  such  a 
promise  restores  to  our  fallen  nature,  the  consolation  it 
imparts  to  grief,  the  hope  and  solace  to  love,  must  acknow- 
ledge that  in  the  highest  concernment  of  man — his  existence 
and  condition  after  death — never  man  spake  like  this  man 
who  said  "  I  am  the  resurrection  and  the  life  :  he  that  be- 
lieveth  in  Me,  though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live."  ' 

Turning  from  the  Matter  of  Christ's  preaching  to  the 
Manner  of  it — from  what  He  said  to  the  way  in  which  He 
said  it,  one  is  impressed,  first  of  all,  with  the  calm  spiritual 
depth  of  His  sayings.  With  no  air  of  profundity,  the 
sayings  of  Jesus  have  a  depth  of  meaning  that  no  philoso- 
phy has  yet  fathomed.  But  this  depth  is  not  obscurity,  it 
is  simply  deepness.  Depth  of  reasoning  sometimes  leads 
to  obscurity  of  statement ;  the  intellectual  process  becomes 
confused,  or  the  listener  loses  the  clue,  or  language  furnishes 
no  terms  for  the  more  delicate  shades  of  meaning.  But  an 
intuition  of  the  spiritual  life — a  truth  the  attestation  of 
which  should  be  given  directly  by  conscience  or  in 
consciousness,  however  deep  in  meaning,  may  be  always 
clear   in   expression.     Philosophers  go  to  the  bottom  of 

1  John  xi.  25. 


12  THE   THEOLOGY    OF    CHRIST. 

their  own  thoughts,  but  Christ  went  to  the  bottom  of 
things ;  and  one  can  see  the  truth  as  He  states  it,  and  feel 
that  it  is  the  truth,  though  he  may  not  at  first  measure  its 
whole  depth,  just  as  without  diving  to  the  bottom  of  the 
ocean,  one  may  see  that  the  bottom  is  deep,  and  that  j)earls 
are  lying  there.  This  profound  clearness  in  the  utterances 
of  Christ  is  due  to  His  intuitive  and  absolute  knowledge. 
Where  others  seek  after  truth  by  long  processes  of  investi- 
gation, and  find  it  only  in  fragments,  Jesus  saw  truth 
ensphered  before  Him  like  a  crystal,  and  He  so  states  the 
truth  that  we  see  it  and  feel  it,  although  not  always  able 
fully  to  grasp  it.  Thus  one  may  read  metaphysical 
philosophy  from  Plato  to  Kant  without  gaining  a  clear 
positive  conception  of  that  Infinite  Spirit  in  whose  existence 
all  such  philosophy  must  terminate.  But  when  Christ 
says,  "  God  is  a  spirit,  and  they  that  Avorship  Him  must 
worship  Him  in  spirit  and  in  truth,"  we  feel  that  God  is 
a  Personal  Reality  ;  and  though  Christ  does  not  define 
the  nature  of  spirit,  yet  when  He  speaks  of  God  as  thinking, 
willing,  loving — His  Father  and  ours — we  understand 
Him  better  than  the  philosophers,  though  He  penetrates  to 
the  inmost  depths  of  a  nature  which  they  had  vainly 
sought  to  define.  His  depth  is  clear  and  calm  because  He 
speaks  the  words  of  everlasting  truth. 

The  simplicity  wTith  which  He  utters  the  profoundest 
truths  distinguishes  Jesus  from  all  other  teachers.  It  was 
said  of  the  orations  of  Demosthenes  that  they  smelt  of  the 
lamp,  and  the  attention  of  the  hearer  was  divided  between 
what  was  said  and  the  labor  bestowed  in  saying  it  well. 
The  elaborate  finish  of  a  Cicero,  a  Burke,  an  Everett,  often 
diverts  the  mind  from  the  thought  to  the  style.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  apothegms  of  some  of  the  most  renowned 
sages  are  uttered  Avith  an  air  of  wisdom  that  offends  the 
taste.  But  Jesus  never  labors  to  make  an  impression,  nor 
works  up  an  effect  with  careful  logic  and  rhetoric.     "  His 


CHRIST  S    PREACHING    PERSONAL.  13 

doctrine  drops  as  the  rain,  and  his  speech  distils  as  the 
dew." 

One  reason  of  this  clearness  is  itself  a  characteristic  of 
the  sayings  of  Christ — their  adaptation  to  the  hearts  and 
lives  of  men.  He  is  not  like  the  chemist,  who  shuts 
himself  up  in  his  laboratory  to  analyze  substances  and  form 
new  compounds,  and  now  and  then  gives  to  the  world  a 
new  discovery — a  result  without  process ;  nor  like  the 
philosopher  who  withdraws  from  common  life  into  a  region 
of  abstractions ;  but  His  teaching  is  like  the  sunlight,  for 
every  body's  eyes,  like  the  air,  for  every  body's  lungs. 
The  God  whose  infinity,  spirituality,  majesty,  glory,  holiness, 
He  sets  forth  in  such  pregnant  words,  is  your  Father  and 
mine;  the  soul  whose  salvation  He  weighs  against  the 
whole  world  is  your  soul  and  mine ;  the  law  of  holy  love, 
not  one  jot  or  tittle  of  which  shall  fail,  though  heaven  and 
earth  pass,  is  the  rule  for  your  life  and  mine ;  the  kingdom 
of  God  is  within  us ;  His  Father's  house  is  ours ;  the  most 
sublime  and  oppressive  truths  of  the  spiritual  world,  the 
most  profound  mysteries  in  the  relations  of  the  divine  to 
the  human  through  creation,  incarnation  and  redemption, 
the  most  thrilling  and  exquisite  discoveries  of  the  future 
life  are  brought  home  as  present  and  personal  to  every 
man.  So  personal  are  they,  that  to  receive  them  into  our 
hearts  makes  them  our  own  almost  as  much  as  if  we  had 
originated  them.  On  reading  the  declarations  of  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount,  we  find  them  so  simple  as  to  seem 
in  a  sense  natural ;  we  wonder  we  had  not  thought  of  them 
before;  and  yet,  so  deep  and  full  are  they  that  we  can 
never  exhaust  them.  For  instance,  the  saying  "Blessed 
are  the  pure  in  heart,  for  they  shall  see  God  "  is  so  obvious, 
so  true  to  the  nature  of  things,  that  it  appeals  to  every  one 
as  a  direct  personal  summons  to  a  holy  life ;  and  yet  the 
most  experienced  Christian,  the  most  profound  theologian, 
has  not  exhausted  its  meaning — not  Baxter  nor  Edwards, 


14  THE   THEOLOGY   OF    CHMST. 

not  John  nor  Paul  knew  all  that  it  is  to  be  pure  in  heart, 
nor  could  tell  all  that  it  will  be  to  see  God.  Truth  as 
spoken  by  Christ  belongs  to  us  as  the  sky  under  which  we 
live :  it  is  our  heaven ;  we  drink  its  light,  we  breathe  its 
air,  we  grow  familiar  with  its  stars,  we  bathe  our  fancy  in 
its  clear  ether,  and  have  a  home-like  feeling  of  possession — 
yet  we  can  never  reach  its  horizon  nor  climb  to  its  zenith. 
Never  man  spake  like  this  man — bringing  God  and  truth 
and  heaven  so  near,  yet  making  all  so  vast  and  glorious. 

Another  peculiarity  of  the  sayings  of  Christ  is  the  sense 
of  fulness  they  carry  with  them,  and  of  this  fulness  as 
proceeding  from  Himself.  One  sometimes  feels  that  a 
teacher  has  not  mastered  his  subject,  or  if  at  home  upon 
one  subject  he  is  not  equally  learned  in  all ;  and  when  the 
most  learned  have  told  all  they  know,  there  remains  some- 
thing more  for  themselves  as  well  as  their  pupils  to  acquire. 
But  Jesus  speaks  with  the  composure  and  certainty  that 
fulness  gives ;  His  words  flow  as  from  a  fountain,  and  not 
only  so,  but  the  truth  He  imparts  becomes  in  those  who 
receive  it  "  a  well  of  living  water,  springing  up  into  ever- 
lasting life."  l  In  listening  to  Him  one  never  feels  that 
He  has  exhausted  Himself  while  other  truth  remains  to  be 
learned,  but  that  He  knows  all  truth,  and  contains  it 
within  Himself.  For  truth  as  spoken  by  Christ  carries 
with  it  the  conviction  that  what  He  utters  is  part  of 
Himself.  It  is  not  truth  that  He  has  studied  and  developed 
as  an  intellectual  system — as  Copernicus  the  astronomical 
and  Cudworth  the  intellectual  system  of  the  universe ;  it  is 
not  a  doctrine  that  He  has  derived  from  another,  and 
teaches  with  His  own  methods  and  illustrations — as  Plato 
expanded  and  formulated  the  doctrines  of  Socrates, — but  the 
Truth  He  speaks  is  in  and  of  Himself. 

We  make  such  poor  work  of  setting  forth  the  truth,  so 
feeble  an  impression  of  its  reality  and  power,  because  our 

1  John  iv.  14. 


CHRIST   SPAKE   AS   THE   TRUTH.  15 

own  experience  of  the  truth  is  so  limited  and  imperfect. 
It  does  not  come  from  the  depth  of  our  consciousness;  it 
is  not  incorporated  with  the  life  of  our  souls,  so  as  to  give 
the  impression  that  we  are  Truth  itself;  and  we  take  up 
with  half-truths,  or  defective  and  distorted  representations 
in  the  place  of  Truth.  Even  the  wisest  men  sometimes 
put  forth  as  profound  ideas  what  to  others  seem  like  com- 
mon-places ;  and  most  men  are  themselves  so  very  common- 
place, of  narrow  views  and  narrow  feelings,  always  in  the 
same  ruts  of  trade  or  politics  or  opinion,  bigoted,  preju- 
diced, self-willed,  never  rising  to  broad  and  generous  views 
— that  they  give  to  what  little  of  truth  they  do  receive 
the  complexion  of  their  own  minds,  and  make  this  com- 
mon-place as  themselves. 

But  Jesus  stands  before  us  as  Himself  the  Truth,  making 
upon  all  that  hear  Him  the  impression  that  He  knows  that 
of  which  He  speaks,  knows  it  truly,  knows  it  deeply, 
knows  it  fully,  and  utters  it  from  His  inmost  soul.  Hence 
what  He  says  is  always  fresh,  and  constant  repetition 
cannot  make  it  old.  If  He  speaks  of  purity  of  heart,  we 
know  that  He  Himself  is  pure;  if  He  commands  us  to 
love  one  another,  we  feel  that  He  Himself  is  love;  if  He 
speaks  of  God,  He  produces  the  conviction  that  He  knows 
the  Father  as  the  Father  knows  Him.  His  very  words 
carry  with  them  the  assurance  that  He  is  the  Truth. 
Never  man  spake  like  this  man. 

The  sayings  of  Christ,  far  more  than  those  of  any  other 
teacher,  are  certified  by  their  effects,  especially  in  the  higher 
spheres  of  human  thought  and  feeling.  Since  the  beginning 
of  the  Christian  era,  how  large  a  portion  of  the  literature 
of  the  world  has  been  devoted  to  the  exposition  and  illus- 
tration of  His  words,  or  directly  or  indirectly  has  grown 
out  of  them.  What  vast  libraries  and  sections  of  libraries 
in  Europe  and  America  are  filled  with  books  of  Christian 
theology,  commentary,  and  history.     Down  to  the  time 


18  THE    THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

of  the  Reformation,  how  little  literature  was  known  to 
Christendom  that  was  not  distinctively  Christian,  and  since 
then  how  largely  has  Christianity  influenced  the  thought 
and  learning  of  the  world.  Strike  out  from  the  literature 
of  the  Christian  era  all  that  is  in  any  way  derived  from  or 
related  to  the  sayings  of  Christ,  and  what  would  remain 
in  comparison  worthy  to  influence  the  higher  thought  and 
life  of  mankind?  How  little  is  there  in  the  sayings  of 
other  men  that  the  world  cherishes  as  life-words!  How 
many  volumes  have  been  made  simply  by  commenting 
upon  the  words  of  Christ! 

Every  one  is  familiar  with  Sir  Walter  Scott's  dying 
testimony  to  the  Book — "Need  you  ask?  There  is  but 
one ;" 1  and  the  great  humorist  of  our  time  has  left  this 
record  of  his  obligations  to  the  life  of  Christ — "  I  have 
always  striven  in  my  writings  to  express  veneration  for 
the  life  and  lessons  of  our  Saviour ;  because  I  feel  it,  and 
because  I  rewrote  that  history  for  my  children ;"  and  in 
his  last  will,  he  enjoined  it  upon  his  children  to  "  try  and 
guide  themselves  by  the  teachings  of  the  New  Testament." 2 

The  power  of  Christ's  doctrine  has  been  equally  apparent 
upon  human  society.  A  new  Society,  altogether  peculiar, 
whose  foundation  is  faith  in  Christ  Himself,  whose  bond  is 
love  to  Him  and  His,  Avhose  aim  is  moral  perfection,  has 
come  into  existence  through  His  Avord,  and  to-day  exists 
over  half  the  globe.  The  Church  of  Christ  founded 
without  political  purpose  or  physical  power,  upon  a  Word, 
an  Idea,  and  expanding  through  the  ages  with  an  undying 
spiritual  life,  witnesses  that  never  man  spake  like  this  man. 
Moreover,  His  words  have  penetrated  civil  society,  have 
infused  into  government  the  idea  of  justice,  have  redressed 
social  wrongs,  have  harmonized  legislation,  and  lifted  the 
masses  to  a  higher  plane  of  thought  and  hope. 

1  Life  by  Lockhart,  vol.  vii.  chap.  xi. 

2  The  will  of  Mr.  Dickens  as  quoted  by  Dean  Stanley  in  his  funeral 
discourse. 


CHRIST  SPEAKS   TO   THE   HEART.  17 

But  more  than  all  is  the  power  of  Christ's  doctrine 
manifested  in  the  history  of  the  heart,  under  all  the  mani- 
fold phases  of  human  feeling.  The  heart  in  perplexity 
needs  not  instruction  so  much  as  light,  and  the  words  of 
Christ  are  like  sunlight  upon  a  mind  in  spiritual  darkness. 
The  heart  in  trouble  needs  not  teaching  so  much  as 
sympathy,  and  the  words  of  Christ  come  to  it  in  sorrow 
with  all  the  tenderness  of  the  tears  He  wept  with  Martha 
and  Mary,  with  all  the  comfort  of  the  promise  "Thy 
brother  shall  rise  again ! "  The  heart  that  knows  the 
bitterness  of  sin  wants  not  relief  only  but  renewal,  trans- 
formation; not  merely  pardon  but  salvation  through 
recovery  to  purity  and  to  a  life  in  God,  and  the  words  of 
Christ  are  pardon,  peace,  purity,  salvation,  life.  The 
heart  so  deceived  by  the  world,  so  misled  by  itself,  needs 
truth  to  rest  upon  and  love  to  confide  in ;  and  the  words 
of  Christ  invite  us  to  lean  upon  Him  as  did  John  at  the 
supper.  What  myriads  of  hearts  have  been  swayed, 
molded,  strengthened,  comforted  by  His  words ! 

The  world  has  not  yet  outgrown  the  teachings  of  Christ. 
Great  advances  have  been  made  in  physical  science  since 
His  day,  especially  within  our  own  times;  but  science  has 
discovered  nothing  more  precious  for  the  soul's  culture  than 
the  truths  that  Christ  brought  into  the  world.  The  Phi- 
losophy of  Humanity  has  grown  to  a  science  since  Jesus 
taught,  but  this  has  advanced  no  doctrine  of  development 
or  perfectibility  more  elevating  or  more  encouraging  than 
His.  Science  dishonors  itself  when  it  aifects  to  ignore  the 
teachings  of  Christ:  for  whatever  else  is  true,  His  word  is 
Truth ;  whatever  else  is  brought  to  light,  His  word  is  both 
Light  and  Life. 

Was  He  then  who  uttered  these  marvelous,  far-reaching, 

unequaled  words  only  a  Man,  of  loftier  genius  or  keener 

insight  than  the  rest  of  His  race?     Will  this  account  for 

those  sayings  of  His  that  so  distance  all  human  wisdom 

2 


18  THE   THEOLOGY    OF    CHRIST. 

and  so  control  the  world?  Must  we  not  accept  His  own 
explanation  of  this  unparalleled  phenomenon — "  The  words 
that  I  speak  unto  you,  I  speak  not  of  Myself,  but  the 
Father  that  dwelleth  in  Me,  He  doeth  the  works."  1  Can 
His  other  sayings  be  true,  if  that  saying  was  false?  In 
view  of  the  quality  of  Christ's  preaching  as  tested  by  the 
results  of  eighteen  hundred  years,  must  not  we  say  with 
even  more  than  the  confidence  of  the  first  disciples,  "  Thou 
hast  the  words  of  eternal  life ;  and  we  believe  and  are  sure 
that  Thou  art  that  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God  ?" 2 

i  John  xiv.  10.  a  John  vi.  68,  69. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE   KINGDOM    OF    GOD. 

The  whole  circle  of  doctrines  taught  by  Christ  revolves 
about  this  central  point — that  He  represented  to  men  the 
Kingdom  of  God.  Jesus  began  His  public  life  by 
"preaching  the  Gospel  of  the  kingdom  of  God;"  saying, 
u  the  kingdom  of  God  is  at  hand ;  repent  ye,  and  believe 
the  Gospel."  1  In  the  first  commission  that  He  gave  to  the 
twelve  disciples,  Jesus  "sent  them  to  preach  the  kingdom 
of  God." 2  In  His  parables  He  spake  continually  of  the 
"kingdom  of  God"  and  the  "kingdom  of  heaven."  He 
represented  faith  in  Himself  as  the  door  of  entrance  into 
the  kingdom  of  God;  He  promised  His  followers  the 
highest  honor  and  blessing  in  the  kingdom  of  God. 

What  then  is  this  kingdom  of  God  which  Jesus  preached 
as  His  Gospel?  and  how  does  the  knowledge  of  this 
Kingdom  bring  us  under  obligation  to  repent,  and  give  us 
encouragement  to  believe?  The  answer  to  these  questions 
must  be  sought  in  the  meaning  of  this  phrase  as  it  required 
to  be  understood  by  the  Jews  of  Christ's  own  time.  To 
the  men  whom  Christ  addressed,  the  kingdom  of  God  was 
no  new  idea;  or  rather,  it  was  no  new  phrase — but  it  can 
hardly  be  said  to  have  represented  any  definite  idea  to  a 
generation  that  had  so  far  lost  the  meaning  of  their  own 
law  and  history.  If  we  study  closely  the  religion  of  the 
Old  Testament  we  shall  find  that  all  its  doctrines,  laws, 
and  institutions  grow  out  of  this  fundamental  thought — 
that  God  who  Himself  is  pure  and  spiritual,  is  the  true 
and  only  Redeemer  of  all  those  who  desire  to  be  no  more 

l  Mark  i.  14,  15.  *  Luke  ix.  2. 

19 


20  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

estranged  from  Him;  that  God  calls  men  to  Himself  and 
seeks  to  deliver  them  from  bondage: — this  precious  truth 
was  sealed  by  the  deliverance  in  Egypt,  and  the  won- 
drous rescue  at  the  Red  Sea;  and  afterwards  became  the 
foundation  stone  of  the  whole  community  of  Israel,  as 
well  as  the  sole  vivifying  impulse  of  all  devotion.1  The 
grand  thought  that  Moses  brought  to  Israel  was  that 
Jehovah,  the  living  God,  the  spiritual  and  eternal  God, 
was  the  true  Deliverer ;  that  He  desired  men  to  come  to 
Him  in  spiritual  trust  and  worship,  and  that  to  every  one 
who  would  so  come  to  Him,  this  eternal  God  would  be  a 
present  help,  a  refuge  from  every  trouble,  care,  and  sorrow. 

What  the  heathen  had  blindly  struggled  after  in  all  the 
multitude  of  their  gods  and  religious  forms,  Jehovah  had 
brought  to  men  in  this  Revelation  of  Himself;  a  God  not 
far  off  but  nigh  to  every  one  of  us;  a  God  who  is  seeking 
men  and  drawing  them  to  Himself;  a  God  who  touches 
the  human  spirit  by  His  own  infinite  Spirit,  that  He  may 
awaken  within  it  a  childlike  faith  and  love;  a  God 
manifesting  Himself  to  our  consciousness  as  a  Deliverer 
from  sin  and  evil  and  death. 

This  truth  was  formally  embodied  in  the  doctrine  of 
a  Kingdom  of  God  in  this  world,  the  nucleus  of  which  was 
His  redeemed  people  of  Israel.  The  political  constitution 
of  Israel  as  a  Nation  was  but  a  frame  for  this  spiritual 
kingdom.  For  a  time  Jehovah  stood  directly  as  the  Head 
of  the  Nation,  declaring  His  will  through  the  prophets, 
and  by  extraordinary  manifestations ;  and  when  the  people 
so  far  declined  from  this  vivid  spiritual  conception  of 
Jehovah  as  their  deliverer  that  they  desired  an  earthly 
king,  then  the  kingly  office  was  made  a  type  of  the  divine 
authority  that  yet  ruled  in  the  hearts  of  the  true  Israel : 
the  prophets  strove  to  hold  the  people  as  a  nation  to  the 
original  spiritual  idea  of  this  divine  kingdom,  and  pre- 

1  Ewald,  History  of  Israel,  i.  533-36. 


THE   "KINGDOM   OF    GOD"    IN   JEEEMIAII.  21 

dieted  a  time  when  the  kingdom  of  spiritual  life  and  power, 
— a  kingdom  in  which  God  Himself,  the  pure,  the  holy,  the 
spiritual,  the  eternal,  should  be  acknowledged  and  served 
as  Redeemer  and  Lord — should  be  manifested  not  for 
Israel  only  but  to  the  whole  world.  This  was  the  time  of 
promise  that  Jesus  announced  as  fulfilled ;  this  the  "  good 
news  "  He  preached  "  of  the  kingdom  of  God." 

The  true  conception  of  this  kingdom  stands  out  in  the 
predictions  of  Jeremiah  concerning  the  days  of  the  Messiah. 
When  this  prophet  wrote,  the  political  kingdom  had  run 
itself  down  into  disgrace  and  bankruptcy,  through  the  vices 
of  the  kings,  and  the  general  wickedness  of  the  people ;  but 
although  the  monarchy  should  be  overthrown,  and  king 
and  people  be  carried  away  captive,  the  Kingdom  of  God 
in  the  true  Israel — as  represented  by  the  prophet  and  by 
all  believing  souls — could  not  be  destroyed.  Indeed, 
when  armies  should  have  failed  and  all  earthly  hopes  have 
perished,  then  would  stand  out  more  clearly  than  ever  the 
truth  that  Jehovah  was  the  only  Deliverer,  that  He  who 
delivered  Israel  out  of  Egypt,  must  now  deliver  them  from 
the  oppression  and  captivity  that  threatened  them  and  from 
the  sins  that  had  brought  them  into  such  disaster  and 
perils ;  then  too  would  be  revived  the  confidence  of  the 
true  Israel,  through  a  humble,  trustful  submission  to  the 
will  of  God — faith  in  Jehovah  as  a  Deliverer. 

This  view  of  the  kingdom  of  God  may  be  interpreted  to 
us  by  our  familiar  conceptions  of  the  national  and  historical 
spirit  in  a  people,  as  distinguished  from  the  form  of  gov- 
ernment and  the  practical  administration  of  affairs.  If, 
for  instance,  one  loses  confidence  in  a  President,  or  a 
Ministry,  he  does  not  abandon  constitutional  government 
as  a  failure,  but  the  ideal  of  a  good  government  then 
stands  out  in  bold  relief.  When  the  lawful  government  of 
the  United  States  was  assailed  by  rebellion,  and  it  was 
attempted  to  disintegrate  the  Union  by  violence,  then  the 


22  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

spirit  of  law  and  order,  the  essence  of  government  embodied  . 
in  the  Constitution,  came  forth  more  vividly  in  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  people,  and  inspired  them  with  new  faith 
and  courage ;  and  more  than  all,  the  idea  of  God  as  the 
Deliverer  of  the  Nation  in  its  past  history,  and  as  its 
present  dependence  and  hope,  came  into  prominence,  and 
His  kingdom  was  made  manifest  in  the  signal  providences 
of  the  War,  and  in  the  overthrow  of  Slavery.  This  near 
experience  may  help  us  to  understand  what  to  the  true 
Israelite  was  the  kingdom  of  God; — not  simply  His  Provi- 
dential government  over  the  world  at  large ;  nor  His 
universal  government  over  this  and  all  worlds ;  nor  the 
form  of  political  constitution  and  laws  given  by  Jehovah 
to  Israel ;  nor  the  King  and  High  Priest  set  up  in  His 
name;  but  the  presence  and  power  of  God  felt  and 
acknowledged  in  the  hearts  of  those  that  trusted  in  Him 
and  did  His  commandments. 

It  was  this  spiritual  conception  of  a  kingdom  within 
Israel  itself, — that  did  not  embrace  all  Israel,  and  yet  was 
greater  than  Israel,  because  it  did  possess  and  should 
hereafter  more  and  more  possess  souls  outside  the  pale  of 
the  Jewish  commonwealth — that  Jeremiah  seized  so  vividly 
at  the  very  moment  when  the  national  monarchy  was  sinking 
into  nothingness.  "After  those  days,  saitli  the  Lord,  I 
will  put  my  law  in  their  inward  parts,  and  write  it  in 
their  hearts ;  and  will  be  their  God,  and  they  shall  be  my 
people  ....  for  they  shall  all  know  me,  from  the  least 
of  them  unto  the  greatest  of  them,  saith  the  Lord :  for  I 
will  forgive  their  iniquity,  and  I  will  remember  their  sin 
no  more." x  "Where  Jehovah  was  sought  and  acknow- 
ledged as  the  Saviour  from  sin,  and  His  will  was  received 
into  the  heart  as  its  law,  there  was  the  kingdom  of  God. 
Daniel,  himself  a  captive,  while  Jerusalem  lay  waste  and 
her  monarchy  was  overthrown,  had  a  glorious  vision  of 

1  Jeremiah  xxxi.  33.  34. 


THE   "KINGDOM   OF   GOD"   IN   EZEKIEL.  23 

this  spiritual  kingdom,  to  be  revived  under  Messiah  the 
Prince,  and  he  even  measured  off  by  outward  events  the 
time  when  His  kingdom  would  be  made  manifest.  Ezekiel 
likened  the  manifestation  of  the  true  Israel  to  a  resurrec- 
tion of  dry  bones ; — "  A  new  heart  also  will  I  give  you, 
and  a  new  spirit  will  I  put  within  you :  and  I  will  take 
away  the  stony  heart  out  of  your  flesh,  and  I  will  give  you 
a  heart  of  flesh.  And  I  will  put  my  Spirit  within  you, 
and  cause  you  to  walk  in  my  statutes,  and  ye  shall  keep 
my  judgments,  and  do  them." *  Thus  underlying  the 
whole  history  of  Israel,  and  all  the  forms  of  the  Jewish 
state  and  religion,  was  the  idea  of  a  living  present  God 
who  dwelt  in  the  hearts  of  all  true  worshipers,  "as  a 
monarch  living  among  his  subjects  j" — the  temple  was  His 
visible  house,  a  representative  of  His  sacred  majesty,  and 
its  sacrifices  showed  how  He  was  to  be  approached  for  the 
forgiveness  of  sin ;  but  His  true  abode  was  in  hearts 
delivered  from  sin,  that  honored  and  obeyed  Him  as  the 
Redeemer-God. 

"With  this  spiritual  conception  of  the  kingdom — the 
presence  of  God  as  a  Saviour  realized  to  the  soul — it  is 
easy  to  understand  how  Jesus  "  preached  the  Gospel  of  the 
Kingdom  of  God."  Coming  at  a  time  when  the  Jews 
were  vassals  of  the  Roman  power ;  when  deprived  of  every 
symbol  of  their  nationality  save  their  temple  and  its  wor- 
ship, they  were  yearning  for  a  Deliverer ;  to  the  nominal 
people  of  God  thus  subjugated  by  military  rule,  yet  cling- 
ing to  the  ancient  promise  of  a  Messiah  who  should  restore 
the  glory  of  the  theocracy,  He  said,  "  I  bring  to  you  the 
good  news  of  the  kingdom  of  God ;  in  Me  Jehovah  once 
more  comes  to  you  as  a  Deliverer ;  the  time  predicted  by 
Daniel  is  fulfilled ;  the  new  covenant  promised  by  Jeremiah 
is  brought  to  you  in  my  gospel ;  repent  of  the  sins  that 
have  humiliated  and  well-nigh  destroyed  you ;  renounce 
your  vain  hopes  of  deliverance,  and  trust  in  Me  as  your 

1  Ezek.  xxxvi.  26,  27,  and  Chap,  xxxvii. 


24  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

Saviour ;  repent  and  believe  the  Gospel,  for  the  kingdom 
of  God  is  at  hand."  The  expectation  of  such  a  kingdom 
already  existed  in  the  minds  of  the  more  devout  and 
spiritual  among  the  Jews.  Zacharias  anticipated  the 
advent  of  the  Messiah  as  the  appearing  of  "  the  Day-spring 
from  on  high/'  whose  ways  John  was  sent  to  prepare,  "  by 
giving  knowledge  of  salvation  unto  His  people  for  the 
remission  of  their  sins,  through  the  tender  mercy  of  our 
God."  l  The  aged  Simeon  waited  for  "  the  consolation  of 
Israel,"  and  when  the  child  Jesus  was  presented  in  the 
temple,  with  prophetic  insight  he  recognized  in  Him  the 
promised  salvation—"  a  light  to  lighten  the  Gentiles,  and 
the  glory  of  Israel."  2  Joseph  of  Arimathea  was  one  who 
in  the  same  spirit  "  waited  for  the  kingdom  of  God,"  and 
he  boldly  identified  himself  with  the  name  of  Jesus,  in 
what  seemed  the  darkest  hour  of  His  cause. 3  But  though 
this  finer  spiritual  conception  of  the  kingdom  of  God 
existed  in  the  minds  of  the  more  devout,  the  body  of  the 
nation  looked  only  for  the  restoration  and  perfection  of  the 
Davidic  theocracy  in  perpetuity.  Because  of  this  popular 
expectation  of  the  Messianic  kingdom,  which  could  easily 
have  been  kindled  into  the  fever  of  a  revolution,  Jesus 
refrained  from  announcing  Himself  as  the  Messiah,  until 
by  His  teaching  and  works  He  had  gained  a  footing  for 
that  spiritual  commonwealth  which  in  reality  He  had  come 
to  establish.  This  commonwealth  began  in  the  little 
company  of  His  personal  disciples— a  community  brought 
into  existence  not  by  any  supernatural  intervention  in  the 
outward  condition  of  the  people,  but  through  His  own 
spiritual  efficiency ;  and  thus  the  very  substance  of  the 
kingdom  of  God  was  seen  to  be  independent  of  its  realiza- 
tion in  the  form  of  the  national  Theocracy. 4     Yet  even 

i  Luke  i.  76-79.  2  Luke  ii.  25-33.  s  Mark  xv.  43. 

*  See  a  fine  analysis  of  the  doctrine  cf  Jesus  concerning  the  kingdom 
of  God  in  Weiss'  Leh-buch  der  BUUschcn  Theologi*  des  N.  Testament,,  pp. 
43-57.     For  Tan  Oosterzee'*  view  see  note  at  ^be  end  of  this  Chapter. 


THE  KINGDOM  IN  AND  OF  THE  HEAET.      25 

this  community,  though  based  upon  the  spiritual  doctrine 
of  Christ  and  held  together  by  a  personal  faith  in  Him, 
did  not  constitute  the  kingdom  of  God  in  the  most  pure 
and  absolute  sense.  One  of  the  primitive  circle  of  twelve 
was  a  devil, l  a  confederate  of  Satan,  the  grand  enemy  of 
Christ,  and  of  the  kingdom  that  He  had  come  to  establish. 
The  true  kingdom  commences  always  in  the  hearts  of 
individuals,  and  spreads  only  by  the  communication  of 
spiritual  life.  In  all  His  parables  and  discourses  touching 
the  kingdom  of  God,  Christ  adhered  to  this  spiritual  con- 
ception. The  kingdom  consists  in  doing  the  will  of  the 
Father,  and  the  perfection  of  the  Theocracy  will  be  realized 
when  that  will  shall  be  done  by  men  on  earth  as  it  is  done 
by  the  angels  in  heaven — in  a  word,  supreme  love  to  God 
is  the  consummation  of  the  kingdom. 

Hence  the  kingdom  of  God  cometh  not  with  observa- 
tion. 2  It  has  none  of  the  outward  pomp  and  circumstance 
of  royalty,  but  is  the  development  of  an  internal  power. 
To  find  it  one  needs  not  to  go  to  this  place  or  that,  to  join 
this  organization  or  that,  participate  in  this  ceremony  or 
that ; — "  The  kingdom  of  God  is  within  you." 3  One  be- 
comes a  subject  of  it  in  his  own  consciousness ;  when  he, 
by  believing,  receives  Christ  into  his  heart  as  his  Saviour, 
then  does  God  as  his  Redeemer,  take  charge  of  him,  enter 
into  him  to  guide,  keep,  sanctify,  and  save  him ;  and  this 
coming  to  the  realization  of  God  in  His  supreme  lordship 
over  the  soul  is  the  kingdom. 

This  kingdom  has  laws  for  the  regulation  of  the  life 
through  purtfying  and  ennobling  the  heart.  These  laws, 
as  embodied  in  the  sermon  on  the  mount,  though  in 
the  form  of  simple  maxims,  strike  down  to  the  deepest 
springs  of  thought  and  motive.  They  revolve  about 
two  cognate  ideas,  Purity  and  Love: — "Blessed  are  the 
pure  in  heart,  for  they  shall  see  God :" i — "  Be  ye  there- 

i  John  vi.  70.         2  Luke  xvii.  20.         s  Luke  xvii.  21.         *  Matt.  v.  8. 


26  THE  THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

fore  perfect  [i.  e.,  in  love]  even  as  your  Father  which  is  in 
heaven  is  perfect : " 1 — a  pure  and  holy  love  toward  God 
and  man  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

This  kingdom  has  its  privileges.  Every  subject  is 
treated  as  a  son.  There  are  no  gradations  of  rank,  no 
intermediaries  upon  whose  influence  at  court  we  must  rely 
for  favor ;  but  the  King  himself  comes  by  His  Spirit  to  the 
heart  of  each  subject  and  there  abides :  "  If  any  man  love 
Me,  he  will  keep  My  words  j  and  My  Father  will  love 
him,  and  we  will  come  unto  him,  and  make  our  abode 
with  him."  2 

This  presence  of  Christ  in  the  soul  imparts  power 
against  all  spiritual  enemies;  the  very  coming  of  the 
kingdom  is  deliverance  from  condemnation  and  death. 
The  entering  in  of  this  kingdom  is  the  casting  out  of 
Satan ; — "  When  a  strong  man  armed  keepeth  his  palace, 
his  goods  are  in  peace :  But  when  a  stronger  than  he  shall 
come  upon  him,  and  overcome  him,  he  taketh  from  him  all 
his  armor  wherein  he  trusted,  and  divideth  his  spoils." 3 
Jesus  spake  this  to  illustrate  His  power  against  Satan  :  "  If 
I  with  the  finger  of  God  cast  out  devils,  no  doubt  the 
kingdom  of  God  is  come  upon  you ;" 4  the  overthrow  of 
Satanic  power  in  the  world,  the  subjugation  of  the  power 
of  evil  in  any  form,  the  breaking  of  hostile  power  by  a 
power  from  above,  marked  the  coming  of  the  kingdom  of 
God.  As  the  advance  of  the  Union  army  into  the  Southern 
States  gave  a  sense  of  deliverance  and  safety  to  loyalists 
who  had  been  held  in  durance  and  terror  by  the  Confeder- 
ates— the  very  coming  of  the  flag  of  the  Union  into  a  place 
being  the  symbol  of  power  and  the  pledge  of  emancipation 
— so  the  entering  of  the  Gospel  into  a  heart  to  possess  it 
with  its  faith,  its  promises,  and  its  hopes,  is  the  signal  of 
deliverance  from  the  bondage  of  Satan,  and  the  coming  in 

1  Matt.  v.  48,  and  xxii.  37-41.  s  Luke  xi.  21,  22. 

2  John  xiv.  23.  4  Luke  xi.  20. 


REWARDS    OF    THE    KINGDOM.  '  27 

of  the  kingdom  of  God.  The  presence  of  Christ  is  the 
subjugation  of  His  enemies. 

Through  this  presence  the  soul  is  sanctified  and  enno- 
bled ;  the  reign  of  pure  desires,  devout  affections,  noble 
purposes  is  established  within.  The  principle  of  holy  love 
enthroned  as  the  law  of  the  mind,  subjugates  evil  propen- 
sities, eradicates  wrong  habits,  and  every  such  subjection  of 
the  unholy  is  the  dominion  of  the  good  and  true. 

This  kingdom  has  its  rewards,  both  present  and  pros- 
pective. There  is  no  higher  joy  in  kind  than  the  free 
communion  of  the  heart  with  one  whom  it  thoroughly 
admires,  respects,  and  loves ;  and  the  highest  measure  of 
this  joy  is  found  in  that  endearing  fellowship  with  the 
Father  into  which  the  soul  enters  through  its  fellowship  of 
faith  and  love  with  Christ,  and  which  Jesus  promised  to 
His  disciples  as  the  compensation  for  His  own  withdrawal : 
"  He  that  loveth  Me  shall  be  loved  of  My  Father  f  > 
"  Peace  I  leave  with  you,  My  peace  I  give  unto  you ;" 2 
"These  things  have  I  spoken  unto  you,  that  My  joy  might 
remain  in  you,  and  that  your. joy  might  be  full."3 

And  this  present  joy,  so  rich  and  satisfactory,  is  but  the 
prelude  to  the  rewards  of  the  future  of  this  kingdom.  To 
be  pronounced  the  blessed  of  the  Father,  and  publicly 
welcomed  to  that  sphere  of  light  and  glory  where  Jehovah 
is  enthroned ;  to  sit  down  with  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob 
in  the  kingdom  of  God ;  to  be  with  Christ  in  person  and 
behold  His  glory, — these  are  but  items  in  the  rich  roll  of 
blessings  promised  to  the  recipients  of  the  Gospel.  And 
these  rewards  shall  be  eternal.  A  Messianic  kingdom 
reproducing  the  theocracy  of  David,  would  have  been 
subject  to  the  incidents  of  all  earthly  governments  and  all 
types  of  material  organization.  Limited  in  extent,  confined 
to  the  conditions  of  place,  exposed  to  the  conflicts  of  hostile 
powers,  it  must  eventually  have  shared  the  fate  of  other 

1  John  xiv.  21.  2  John  xiv.  27.  s  John  xv.  11. 


28  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

temporal  governments,  or  even  had  it  outlasted  these,  it 
must  have  been  circumscribed  in  territorial  dominion  and 
in  the  number  of  its  immediate  subjects.  But  lying 
wholly  within  the  spiritual,  which  is  immortal,  incorpo- 
rated with  the  very  life  of  the  soul,  not  only  will  it  survive 
the  destruction  of  all  outward  forms  and  of  the  world 
itself,  but  it  shall  endure  with  the  duration  of  being. 
Divine  forces  are  in  it  for  its  perpetual  conservation  ;  it  is 
the  kingdom  of  Christ  and  of  God  :  the  gates  of  hell  can- 
not prevail  against  it  here ;  in  one  feeble,  praying,  trusting 
soul  it  is  more  than  conqueror  over  death  and  hell ;  and 
when  Time  and  Death  shall  have  essayed  in  vain  to  touch 
it,  "  Then  shall  the  righteous  shine  forth  as  the  sun  in  the 
kingdom  of  their  Father ;"  1  for  "  This  is  life  eternal — to 
know  the  only  true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ."  2 

That  this  spiritual,  heavenly,  eternal  kingdom  was  at 
hand,  and  with  its  inestimable  privileges  and  rewards  was 
open  to  any  man  to  enter  in,  was  the  Gospel  that  Jesus 
preached.  Of  necessity  the  entrance  into  this  kingdom 
must  be  through  certain  mental  acts  and  experiences  which 
Christ  has  set  forth  under  the  terms  "Bepent"  and 
"Believe;"  for,  the  beginning  of  the  kingdom  being 
deliverance  from  sin,  one  must  needs  repent,  to  be  so  de- 
livered ;  and  the  law  of  the  kingdom  being  obedience  to 
Christ,  one  must  have  a  sincere,  implicit,  submissive 
confidence  in  Christ  in  order  to  such  obedience;  hence 
faith  in  Jesus  as  the  Deliverer. 

The  obligation  to  repent  and  believe  was  declared  by 
Jesus  in  express  terms,  and  also  under  many  parallel 
forms.  Thus  He  enjoined  the  renunciation  of  worldliness, 
"  How  hard  is  it  for  them  that  trust  in  riches  to  enter  into 
the  kingdom  of  God."  3  He  enjoined  humility  as  essential 
to  discipleship  :  "  Whosoever  shall  not  receive  the  kingdom 
of  God  as  a  little  child,  he  shall  not  enter  therein."4     He 

i  Matt.  xiii.  43.         2  John  xvii.  3.         J  Mark  x.  24.         *  Mark  x.  15. 


THE  ADVANCING   GLORY   OF   THE    KINGDOM.  29 

required  implicit  consecration,  with  no  mental  reservation, 
no  hankering  after  the  old  manner  of  life ;  "  No  man  having 
put  his  hand  to  the  plough,  and  looking  back,  is  fit  for  the 
kingdom  of  God."  !  The  Head  and  Lord  of  the  kingdom 
of  God  and  of  heaven  has  declared  that  none  can  be 
accounted  within  that  kingdom  except  they  repent  and 
believe.  In  what  sense  then,  can  one  claim  to  be  a  disciple 
of  Christ,  who  does  not  comply  with  the  uniform  and  ab- 
solute prerequisites  to  membership  in  His  spiritual  com- 
munity? 

That  conception  of  the  kingdom  of  God  which  Jesus 
promulgated  as  His  Gospel  and  sought  to  embody  in  His 
Church,  has  been  realized  with  increasing  grandeur  and 
power  through  the  ages,  and  awaits  its  complete  develop- 
ment in  the  perfected  state  of  the  righteous.  How  vast 
and  glorious  is  that  kingdom  which  to-day  embraces  the 
millions  of  every  kindred  and  tongue  and  people  and  nation, 
who  coming  to  the  Father  by  Jesus  Christ,  worship  Him  in 
spirit  and  in  truth ;  a  commonwealth  of  believing  souls 
owning  allegiance  to  one  Lord,  and  through  all  the  diver- 
sities of  race,  of  language,  of  social,  civil,  and  ecclesiastical 
institutions,  fraternizing  in  the  love  of  Christ,  their  common 
Head,  and  in  prayers,  labors  and  hopes  for  the  elevation 
of  mankind  through  His  gospel.  And  as  other  generations 
shall  believe  through  their  word,  the  prayer  of  Jesus  to 
His  Father  shall  be  more  and  more  fulfilled,  "  that  they 
may  be  made  perfect  in  one,"2  until  from  the  dissolving 
elements  of  this  material  world,  unwasted  by  time,  un- 
hurt of  death,  this  spiritual  kingdom  shall  come  forth 
in  the  glory  of  the  Father  and  of  His  holy  angels. 

1  Luke  ix.  62.  *  John  xvii.  23. 


30  .  THE  THEOLOGY  OF   CHRIST. 


NOTE:  VAN  00STERZEE  ON  THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD. 
3  Dr.  van  Oosterzee  in  his  before-cited  work,  Die  Theologie  des  Neuen  Tes- 
taments, has  seized  upon  the  idea  of  the  kingdom  of  God  as  fundamental  in  the 
Theology  of  Christ,  but  though  his  delineation  of  that  kingdom  is  in  most 
points  admirable,  he  seems  to  have  missed  the  primary  spiritual  conception  of 
the  kingdom  in  the  Old  Testament,  so  finely  brought  out  by  Ewald.  Van  Oos- 
terzee's  characterization  of  the  kingdom,  (translated  by  Rev.  J.  P.  Wester- 
velt,  in  the  American  Presbyterian  Review  for  July,  1870),  is  as  follows:  "The 
Gospel  that  Jesus  preached  is  a  gospel  of  the  kingdom,  and  that  kingdom  it- 
self is  a  moral-religious  institution,  which,  unlimited  in  extent,  and  eternal  in 
duration,  in  its  tendency  to  unite,  sanctify  and  save  mankind,  embraces  heaven 

and  earth That  kingdom  is  (a)  something  new.     "Since  it  had  first  come 

nigh  in  the  fullness  of  time  (Mat.  iv.  17)  it  did  not  before  exist  on  earth."  It  is 
thus  not  merely  the  continuation  >f  the  old  line,  but  the  beginning  of  an  order 
of  things  not  previously  seen  (Luke  x.  23,  24:  comp.  Mat.  xxvi.  28).  It  is, 
however,  now  (b)  something  really  present.  Where  He  comes,  there  it  also  ap- 
pears with  Him ;  it  is  already  in  the  midst  of  those  who  ask  when  it  shall  ap- 
pear (Luke  xvii.  20,  21).  It  is  by  no  means  the  same  as  eternal  bliss  :  there 
consummated,  it  exists  here  in  principle,  and  though  not  of  the  earth,  yet  esta- 
blished on  earth,  though  it  came  not  with  external  noise  or  parade.  It  is 
truly  (c)  something  spiritual,  that  pertains  to  a  higher  domain  of  life  than  this 
visible  creation.  Though  not  exclusively  yet  preeminently  spiritual  are  the 
privileges,  duties  and  expectations  of  its  subjects.  What  takes  place  here  is 
diametrically  opposite  to  what  usually  occurs  in  other  kingdoms  (Mat.  xx.  25, 
28;  comp.  Luke  xxii.  24-27),  and  the  King  declines  all  needless  interference 
with  the  civil  jurisdiction  (Luke  xii.  13,  14).  Even  with  the  idea  of  the  Chris- 
tian church  that  of  the  kingdom  of  Gpd  must  not  be  confounded.  The  church 
is  only  the  external  form  in  which  the  kingdom  of  God  appears  (Mat.  xiii.  24- 
30 ;  47-50)  ;  that  kingdom  itself  a  spiritual  society,  personal  membership 
with  which  is  absolutely  impossible  without  a  renewing  of  the  mind  (Mat. 
xviii.  3).  As  such,  it  is  also,  as  to  its  extent,  (d)  something  unlimited.  The 
Lord  is  even  much  more  than  the  old  prophets  (comp.  Isaiah  ii.  2-4),  raised 
above  all  contracted  particularism,  and  not  only  at  the  end,  but  also  in  the 
midst,  and  at  the  beginning  of  His  course  preached  the  universality  of  the 
kingdom  of  God  (Mat.  v.  13,  14;  viii.  11,  12.)  Single  utterances  which  seem 
to  breathe  another  spirit  (Mat.  x.  5;  xv.  24)  must  be  explained  by  particular 
circumstances,  and  are  abundantly  outweighed  by  others  (Mat.  xxviii.  19; 
Luke  xxiv.  47;  Acts  i.  8.)  Nor  is  this  surprising,  since  the  kingdom  of  God 
is  (e)  something  unending,  bounded  as  little  by  time  as  by  space.  Did  Moses 
and  the  prophets  constantly  point  to  better  days,  Jesus  knows  nothing  higher 
than  the  kingdom  which  He  comes  to  found,  and  predicts  the  complete  triumph 
of  His  cause  (Mat.  xxiv.  14;  xxvi.  13),  and  promises  to  remain  forever  with 
His  disciples  (xxviii.)  What  is  thus  destined  for  eternity  is,  however,  devel- 
oped in  time.  The  kingdom  of  God  is  therefore  (/)  something  growing,  which, 
in  accordance  with  its  spiritual  nature,  gradually  works  from  within  to  its  ex- 


VIEWS   OF   VAX   OOSTEKZEE.  31 

tcrnal  manifestation,  from  small  beginnings  and  with  the  most  surprising  re- 
sults (Mat.  xiii.  31-33;  Mark  iv.  26-29).  Therefore  its  servants  must  pray 
(Mat.  vi.  9),  and  work  (Mat.  ix.  37,  38).  It  is  indeed  possible  that  it  be  taken 
away  from  those  who  ungratefully  despise  it  (Mat.  xxi.  43).  Where  it  is,  how- 
ever, sought  and  found,  there  it  is  {<j)  something  inestimably  glorious  and 
blessed  (Mat.  xiii.  44-46;  xxii.  2);  a  blessedness  tne  want  of  which  cannot  be 
made  good  (Luke  xiii.  25-30)  but  the  possession  of  which  is  to  be  desired  above 
all  things,  as  pledge  of  every  other  blessing  (Mat.  vi.  33)." 

The  points  at  which  this  otherwise  complete  synthesis  of  Christ's  doctrine  of 
the  Kingdom  might  be  amended  are  a  and  c — so  far  as  relates  to  the  Church. 
That  the  Kingdom  of  God  as  preached  by  Christ  was  neio  in  respect  of  the 
clearness,  fulness,  and  intensity  of  spiritual  manifestation,  is  undoubtedly  true; 
but  that  the  devout  recognition  of  God  as  the  only  Lord  and  Deliverer,  and  a 
loyal  devotion  to  Him  in  faith  and  love,  were  primary  elements  in  the  concep- 
tion of  that  kingdom  in  the  Old  Testament,  has  been  shown  in  pp.  20-23  of  the 
foregoing  chapter.  This  view  is  necessary  both  to  the  unity  of  Biblical  truth 
and  to  the  clear  understanding  of  Christ's  teaching.  He  used  the  phrase 
"kingdom  of  God"  without  denning  it;  the  language  was  familiar  to  every 
Jew,  but  Jesus  sought  to  revive  and  restore  its  true  meaning,  and  this  was  the 
tone  of  His  parables  and  similes  showing  that  the  kingdom  was  not  of  this 
world.  He  did  not  claim  to  set  up  a  new  kingdom — "  Think  not  that  I  am 
come  to  destroy  the  law  or  the  prophets:  I  am  not  come  to  destroy,  but  to  ful- 
fil, "  n-Aqpio-m,  to  fill  up,  to  fill  out,  in  their  true  meaning. 

The  very  germ  of  the  kingdom  of  God  given  in  the  covenant  with  Abraham, 
contained  this  doctrine  of  Christ:  not  only  should  one  "great  and  mighty  na- 
tion "  spring  from  Abraham — thus  giving  to  the  covenant  an  outward  symboli- 
cal form — but  "all  the  nations  of  the  earth  should  be  blessed  in  Him:"  and  for 
the  fulfilment  of  this,  Abraham  was  required  to  walk  before  the  Lord  in  per- 
fectness  or  uprightness  of  soul,  and  to  "command  his  children  and  his  house- 
hold after  him,  to  keep  the  way  of  the  Lord"  (Gen.  xvii.  1;  xviii.  18,  19). 
The  coming  of  God  as  a  Saviour  to  be  received  in  trust  and  obedience,  was 
from  the  first  the  essential  idea  of  the  kingdom  of  God:  and  Christ's  doctrine 
of  the  kingdom  was  not  "new"  as  to  the  conception  of  it.  Dr.  van  Oosterzee 
is  nearer  the  truth  when  he  says,  "The  word  of  Moses  and  the  prophets  is 
taken  up  by  Jesus,  continued,  supplemented,  completed  in  such  a  manner,  that 
the  old  in  His  hand  acquires  a  new  aspect,  and  the  new,  rightly  viewed,  ap- 
pears to  be  nothing  else  than  the  ripened  fruit  of  the  old." 

Moreover,  the  true  Church  of  Christ,  one  in  Himself  and  in  His  Father,  is 
identical  with  the  true  kingdom  of  God.  The  external  visible  Church,  like  the 
Jewish  theocracy,  may  shadow  forth  that  kingdom,  yet  representing  it  only  im- 
perfectly and  in  part:  but  the  true  Church  of  Christ  is  that  "spiritual  society 
personal  membership  with  which  is  absolutely  impossible  without  a  renewing 
of  the  mind :"  it  is  the  kingdom  as  Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel  saw  it,  the  members 
of  which  all  "  know  the  Lord,"  and  have  His  law  "  in  their  inward  parts."  This 
primary  conception  of  the  kingdom  is  the  key  to  the  whole  theology  of  Christ. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  NEW   BIRTH. 

For  entering  the  kingdom  of  God,  that  which  is 
wanted  is  "  not  learning  but  life  ;  and  life  must  begin  by 
birth."  l  This  was  the  doctrine  of  Jesus  in  His  reply  to 
Nicodemus,  emphasized  with  a  marked  solemnity  and 
authority  of  utterance,  "  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  thee, 
except  a  man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom 
of  God."2  An  earnest,  devout  Israelite,  exj>ecting  the 
Messiah,  and  impressed  with  the  divine  attestation  of 
Jesus  through  the  miracles  that  He  wrought,  Nicodemus 
sought  instruction  of  this  marvellous  prophet,  whom  he 
acknowledged  as  "a  teacher  come  from  God."  Jesus, 
anticipating  his  question  concerning  the  signs  and  require- 
ments of  the  Messiah's  kingdom,  went  directly  to  the 
topic  that  was  in  the  mind  of  his  visitor,  though  in  a  way 
as  startling  as  it  was  decisive.  Nicodemus  had  said, 
"  Thou  art  a  teacher  come  from  God,"  and  stood  expecting 
some  new  doctrine.  Jesus  said  to  him,  "  My  teaching  is 
not  of  doing  and  leaving  undone,  but  of  becoming ;  so 
that  it  is  not  new  works  to  be  done,  but  a  new  man  to  do 
them,  not  simply  the  living  otherwise,  but  the  being  new- 
born." 3  Here  plainly  was  a  doctrine  of  regeneration 
taught  by  the  founder  of  Christianity  as  fundamental  to 
His  system.  What  does  it  signify?  What  did  Christ 
Himself  intend  by  being  born  again?  The  doctrine  lies 
in  the  exegesis  of  this  single  phrase. 

At  the   outset   Nicodemus   mistook   its   meaning,   and 

1  Alford  in  loc.  2  John  iii.  3.  3  Luther,  Comm.  in  he. 


THE   PROSELYTE   WAS    "BORN   AGAIN."  33 

halted  at  the  words  in  their  literal  physical  sense.  If  his 
reply  to  Jesus  is  to  be  taken  seriously,  one  is  amazed  at 
his  dulness ;  if  he  meant  to  cavil  about  the  matter,  one  is 
no  less  amazed  at  his  frivolity.  But  neither  stupidity  nor 
caviling  can  be  fairly  inferred  from  his  question,  "  How 
can  a  man  be  born  when  he  is  old?  can  he  enter  the 
second  time  into  his  mother's  womb,  and  be  born  ?" l  Nico- 
demus  was  a  "  master  in  Israel,"  a  man  of  intelligence  and 
education,  at  least  upon  questions  of  religion,  and  there- 
fore could  not  have  put  such  a  question  literally.  At 
the  same  time,  his  whole  manner  in  coming  to  Jesus,  and 
the  tone  of  his  conversation,  showed  that  he  was  not  a 
caviler  but  a  sincere  seeker  after  truth.  Not  only  did 
he  testify  his  respect  for  Jesus  in  coming  to  Him  in  this 
manner  for  instruction,  and  addressing  Him  as  a  prophet, 
but  on  subsequent  occasions  he  used  his  official  position 
for  His  protection,  and  even  exhibited  the  devotion  of  a 
disciple.2  His  perplexity  arose  from  his  conceiving  of 
himself  as  already  in  the  kingdom  of  God,  by  virtue  of 
his  birth  in  the  lineage  of  Abraham ;  while,  in  common 
with  the  body  of  his  people,  he  looked  to  the  coming  of 
the  Messiah  for  a  higher  assertion  of  that  kingdom  and  its 
privileges  for  their  benefit.  How  then  could  a  son  of 
Abraham  be  born  a  second  time  into  the  kingdom  of 
God? 

A  Gentile  who  embraced  the  Jewish  faith  was  admitted 
into  the  Jewish  commonwealth  by  baptism,  and  was  said 
to  be  born  again.  It  was  a  phrase  common  among  the 
Rabbis,  "  The  Gentile  that  is  made  a  proselyte,  and  the 
servant  that  is  made  free,  behold  he  is  like  a  child  new- 
born." The  one  explains  the  other;  the  servant  made 
free  began  a  new  kind  of  life,  could  use  his  powers  and 
time  in  a  new  way,  was  master  of  himself ;  and  a  heathen 
brought  to  the  knowledge  of  the  true  God  and  received 

1  John  iii.  4.  2  John  vii.  50;  xix.  39. 

8 


34  THE  THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

into  the  commonwealth  of  His  worshipers,  began  a  new 
life,  had  new  thoughts,  new  feelings,  new  principles,  new 
aims,  new  associations,  new  hopes,  was  like  one  born  into 
a  new  world.  Such  was  the  theory  of  the  school  of 
doctors  to  which  Nicodemus  belonged,  concerning  the 
receiving  a  Gentile  into  the  household  of  Israel ;  but  for 
themselves,  they  had  so  far  lost  the  spiritual  essence  and 
life  of  their  religion  as  to  have  taken  up  the  conceit  that, 
"  it  was  enough  for  them  to  have  been  of  the  seed  of 
Abraham,  or  the  stock  of  Israel,  to  make  them  fit  subjects 
for  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  Nicodemus  not  only  con- 
sidered himself  a  member  of  that  kingdom,  but  felt  his 
consequence  as  one  of  its  chief  men,  a  ruler  and  teacher,  a 
member  of  the  Sanhedrim,  the  high  court  in  the  Jewish 
kingdom  of  heaven.  He  had  hoped  to  gain  from  Jesus 
some  new  light  touching  the  coming  glories  of  that  king- 
dom under  the  reign  of  the  Messiah.  But  when  Jesus 
laid  down  the  broad  proposition,  that  a  new  birth  was 
indispensable  for  every  one,  in  order  to  enter  the  kingdom, 
Nicodemus  was  utterly  confounded.  He  a  proud  master 
in  that  kingdom  could  understand  how  a  poor,  ignorant, 
unholy  dog  of  a  Gentile  would  require  to  be  made  over 
before  he  could  aspire  to  the  privileges  of  the  Messiah's 
kingdom ;  but  for  himself  this  seemed  as  incredible,  almost 
as  impossible,  as  for  an  old  man  to  be  born  a  second  time. 
"  How  can  I,  who  was  born  of  the  seed  of  Abraham,  and 
hence  born  into  the  kingdom  of  God,  put  myself  outside 
of  that  kingdom,  into  the  position  of  a  Gentile,  and  be 
born  again  in  order  to  get  within  the  kingdom?"  So 
ignorant  was  he  of  that  spiritual  life  which  constitutes  the 
kingdom  of  God  within  the  soul,  that  the  requirements  of 
Jesus  seemed  to  him  as  difficult  to  imagine  as  the  physical 
impossibility  of  a  second  birth.  In  this  respect  Nico- 
demus was  a  type  of  those  who  place  the  seat  of  religion 
in  the  physical  nature — making  it  a  quality  or  condition 


"born  from  ABOVE.  oO 

of  the  brain,  the  senses,  the  temperament,  a  result  of 
inheritance,  dispositions  and  tastes,  or  a  product  of  ma- 
terial forms  and  observances.  Such  notions  of  religion 
are  completely  dispelled  by  the  answer  of  Christ,  showing 
that  His  meaning  was  not  to  be  looked  for  in  the  region 
of  the  physical.  It  is  not  man  as  a  physiological  subject 
that  requires  to  be  born  anew,  but  man  in  his  spiritual 
nature,  his  psychological  frames  and  feelings ; — the  new 
birth  is  not  of  the  flesh  but  of  the  Spirit. 

Nevertheless  this  is  a  birth ;  for  though  the  change  is 
neither  in  the  organic  constitution  of  the  man,  nor  in  the 
substance  and  powers  of  the  soul,  it  is  yet  a  change  as 
thorough  and  radical  as  if  one  were  made  over  or  born 
again.  In  respect  of  that  spiritual  life,  that  life  of  obedi- 
ence, faith  and  love  which  is  the  inner  experience  of  the 
kingdom  of  God,  one  must  become  altogether  a  new  man. 
This  is  the  strict  import  of  the  phrase  "  born  again."  To 
be  literally  born  a  second  time  would  not  fill  out  all  its 
meaning  ;  it  denotes  the  complete  renovation  of  the  inner 
man,  and  must  be  understood  either  as  being  renewed 
from  the  very  beginning,  or  as  being  born  "  from  above," 
by  that  influence  from  on  high  which  is  afterwards  de- 
scribed as  being  "  born  of  the  Spirit :" — rather,  both  these 
ideas  are  combined  in  the  one  phrase,  the  former  being 
prominent  in  the  first  instance,  and  the  latter  brought  in 
for  explanation.  One  must  begin  his  life  as  altogether  a 
new  thing,  and  this  he  will  do  only  under  an  influence 
"  from  above." 

If  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  realized  through  the 
coming  of  God  to  the  soul  as  its  Deliverer,  if  the  humble, 
willing,  grateful  receiving  of  Christ  by  the  soul  as  its 
Saviour  from  sin  and  the  Lord  of  its  affections  and  desires 
be  the  kingdom  of  heaven  within  that  soul,  then  is  it  no 
marvel  that  Jesus  said  "  Ye  must  be  born  again ;"  for  be- 
fore the  consciousness  of  God's  presence  as  its  Saviour  and 


36  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHEIST. 

the  acceptance  of  God  as  its  Sovereign  can  spring  up 
within  a  heart  which  has  been  the  home  of  evil  thoughts 
and  the  nursery  of  evil  deeds,  it  must  undergo  a  trans- 
formation as  wondrous  and  complete  as  a  new  birth.  If 
also  the  kingdom  of  heaven  be  that  community  of  loving 
souls  which,  with  no  worldly  marks  of  distinction — blood, 
wealth,  race,  rank — are  joined  in  one  through  faith  in 
Christ  as  Saviour  and  obedience  to  Him  as  Lord,  then  is  it 
no  marvel  that  for  being  registered  in  that  kingdom,  Jesus 
said  "  Ye  must  be  born  again."  The  proud,  self-willed, 
self-righteous  heart  must  be  converted, — made  over,  as  it 
were — and  become  in  submission,  love,  and  obedience, 
even  as  a  little  child.  If,  moreover,  the  kingdom  of  heav- 
en in  its  final  consummation,  denotes  the  visible  presence 
and  glory  of  Christ  enthroned  in  the  midst  of  those  He  has 
recovered  unto  God,  then  can  it  be  no  marvel  that,  for 
admission  to  that  innumerable  company  of  angels  and 
the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect,  Jesus  said  "  Ye 
must  be  born  again:"  and,  "Except  your  righteousness 
shall  exceed  the  righteousness  of  the  Scribes  and  Phari- 
sees, ye  shall  in  no  case  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
heaven." 1 

In  view  of  the  coming  of  that  Kingdom  by  and 
through  Himself,  of  its  spiritual  nature  as  a  process  or  ex- 
perience within  the  soul  by  which  God  is  seen  in  Christ  as 
a  present  Saviour,  and  accepted  as  Lord  of  the  conscience, 
the  will,  and  the  aiFections,  in  view  of  the  holy  character 
of  this  kingdom  in  its  laws  of  purity  and  love,  in  its  privi- 
leges of  fellowship  with  God,  and  the  coming  of  the 
Father  and  the  Son  to  take  up  their  abode  with  its  true 
subjects,  Jesus  called  upon  men  to  repent  and  believe  the 
gospel.  And  it  was  this  same  conception  of  the  kingdom 
as  inward,  spiritual,  pure, — a  holy  kingdom  in  a  holy 
heart — that  led  Jesus  to  declare  to  Nicodemus,  as  the  start- 

l  Matt.  y.  20. 


THE    REQUIREMENT   NATURAL.  3f 

ing  point  of  His  religious  system,  "  Except  a  man  be  born 
again,  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God  !" 

This  requirement  answers  to  the  personal  wishes  of 
every  man  in  his  better  moods.  Could  one  live  his  life 
over  again  in  the  light  of  his  own  experience,  he  would 
guard  against  mistakes,  improve  opportunities,  get  advan- 
tages, now  all  past  beyond  recall !  Every  one  sees  how  he 
could  make  a  better  thing  of  life,  if  it  were  given  him  to 
begin  anew.  In  most  cases,  however,  such  fancied  im- 
provements would  affect  only  the  outward  conditions  and 
circumstances  of  life; — one  would  obtain  a  better  educa- 
tion, another  would  improve  his  chances  in  business,  or 
make  some  lucrative  speculation  in  real  estate,  another 
would  form  a  more  advantageous  or  congenial  alliance ; 
and  so,  in  one  particular  or  other,  most  men  would  like  to 
live  their  lives  over  for  the  sake  of  bettering  their  condi- 
tion ;  would  like  to  be  "  born  again  "  with  different  sur- 
roundings of  culture,  means,  opportunities,  so  as  to  start  in 
life  at  a  different  level,  with  better  light  and  guidance  or 
better  prospects  of  success.  Here  and  there  some  humble, 
honest  soul  longs  to  live  life  over  upon  grounds  of  char- 
acter— that  he  might  make  himself  a  better  man. 

Now  what  Christ  requires  as  the  condition  of  entering 
into  the  kingdom  of  God  is  that  we  shall  do  thoroughly 
this  very  thing  for  which  we  vaguely  long;  that  we  be- 
gin new  lives,  not  in  respect  of  circumstances,  but  of  char- 
acter; that  we  make  earnest  work  of  this — not  changing 
our  place  and  condition,  nor  simply  changing  our  manners 
or  morals  in  the  way  of  an  outward  reformation — but 
that  in  this  change  we  go  to  the  very  bottom  of  things, 
and  in  the  principles,  motives,  and  aims  that  make  up  life 
become  altogether  new,  starting  upon  this  new  idea  of 
living  from  the  very  beginning,  just  as  though  we  were 
born  into  another  state  of  existence.  This  it  is  to  be 
born  again — there  is  an  inward,  deep,  radical  change  in 


38  THE   THEOLOGY    OF    CHRIST. 

the  whole   conception   and   spirit   of  life  as  toward  both 
God  and  man. 

Christ  based  His  requirement  of  the  new  birth  upon  the 
wickedness  of  the  human  heart.  Had  condition  and  cir- 
cumstances alone  stood  in  the  way  of  admission  into  the 
kingdom  of  heaven,  this  teacher  sent  from  God  would 
•doubtless  have  shown  how  the  difficulty  could  be  removed 
by  education  or  the  progress  of  society.  Were  admission 
into  that  kingdom  a  question  of  morals  alone — as  these  af- 
fect society  and  the  outer  life — Christ  would  have  preached 
a  reformation  in  manners.  But  as  John  the  BaptM,  had 
foretold  of  Him,  He  "laid  the  axe  unto  the  root  of  the 
trees,  and  every  tree  which  bringeth  not  forth  good  fruit 
must  be  hewn  down  and  cast  into  the  fire."1  To  Him  who 
knew  what  was  in  man,  bad  fruit  was  a  sign  of  a  corrupt 
tree,  bad  morals  or  an  evil  life  of  a  wicked  heart;  and 
therefore,  as  He  Himself  preached,  the  tree  must  be  made 
good  that  the  fruit  may  be  good,  the  heart  must  be  made 
good  that  it  may  bring  forth  good  things; 2  and  so  because 
of  the  wickedness  of  the  heart,  men  must  be  born  unto  a 
new  life  before  they  can  see  the  kingdom  of  God. 

The  preaching  of  Christ  dealt  with  men  not  simply  as 
ignorant  and  needing  light,  as  erring  and  needing  guid- 
ance, but  as  sinful,,  and  requiring  to  be  made  over  anew 
from  the  very  foundation  of  character.  "They  that  be 
whole  need  not  a  physician,  but  they  that  are  sick.  .  . 
I  am  not  come  to  call  the  righteous  but  sinners  to  re- 
pentance;"3 that  is,  to  such  as  deemed  themselves  good 
enough  by  nature,  or  able  to  develop  a  righteous  character 
by  methods  of  their  own,  Jesus  had  no  mission ;  He  could  be 
of  service  only  to  those  who  were  conscious  that  they  were 
sinners,  and  as  such  had  need  of  salvation.  The  starting- 
point  in  His  whole  work  was  the  recognition  of  sin  as 
seated  in  the  heart,  and  hence  demanding  a  new  beginning 

l  Matt.  iii.  10.  2  Matt.  xii.  33,  35.  s  Matt.  ix.  12,  13. 


ALL   MEN   ARE   SINNERS.  39 

in  respect  of  all  that  constitutes  moral  character.  In  the 
externals  of  religion  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  were  the 
most  religious  of  the  Jews, — strict  and  scrupulous  in 
prayers,  tithes  and  alms,  and  in  all  the  services  that  the 
law  of  Moses  required  of  subjects  of  the  kingdom  of  God; 
yet  Jesus  did  not  recognize  them  as  within  that  kingdom 
or  as  having  any  sort  of  claim  upon  it.  He  charged  them 
with  a  corruption  of  heart  for  which  no  ceremonial  right- 
eousness could  atone:  "Ye  are  like  unto  whited  sepulchres, 
which  indeed  appear  beautiful  outward,  but  are  within  fall 
of  dead  men's  bones,  and  of  all  uncleanness: — ye  out- 
wardly appear  righteous  unto  men,  but  within  ye  are  full 
of  hypocrisy  and  iniquity." 1  These  were  men  of  fair  out- 
ward morality  and  apparent  righteousness — the  best  ave- 
rage specimens  of  character  among  the  Jews — yet  because 
of  the  wickedness  of  their  hearts  they  needed  to  be  born 
again.  And  the  charge  of  inward  depravity  was  by  no 
means  confined  to  those  whom  Christ  accused  of  hypocrisy 
in  religion.  He  brought  this  accusation  against  all  alike. 
The  Jews,  for  instance,  despised  the  Galileans  as  hardly 
capable  of  being  included  within  the  theocratic  family — 
their  very  name  was  a  term  of  opprobrium — and  some  of 
this  class  having  been  put  to  death  for  crime  or  killed  in  a 
riot  near  the  temple,  so  that  their  blood  was  mingled  with 
the  sacrifices,  the  people  told  Jesus  of  this  as  proof  of  a 
divine  judgment  for  their  awful  depravity.  But  He  an- 
swered, "Suppose  ye  that  these  Galileans  were  sinners 
above  all  the  Galileans  because  they  suffered  such  things? 
I  tell  you  Nay;  but  except  ye  repent,  ye  shall  all  likewise 
perish."2  A  tower  near  the  pool  of  Siloam  fell  and  killed 
eighteen  persons,  and  the  Jews  interpreted  this  as  a  judg- 
ment upon  the  victims  for  some  extraordinary  wickedness ; 
but  Jesus  said  as  before,  "Think  ye  that  they  were  sin- 
ners above  all  men  that  dwelt  in  Jerusalem  ?     I  tell  you 

1  Matt,  xxiii.  27,  28.  2  Luke  xiii.  2,  3. 


40  THE    THEOLOGY    OF    CHRIST. 

Nay :  but  except  ye  repent,  ye  shall  all  likewise  perish." 1 
He  thus  taught  that,  although  particular  calamities  are  not 
to  be  taken  as  proof  of  special  criminality  on  the  part  of 
the  sufferers,  yet  suffering  stands  so  closely  related  to  sin, 
that  all  men  are  equally  liable  to  suffer,  because  all  are 
alike  involved  in  the  habit  of  sinning,  and  are  substan- 
tially upon  an  equality  with  respect  to  that  sinfulness  of 
heart  which  calls  for  repentance.  To  the  Jews  who  boast- 
ed that  as  the  seed  of  Abraham  they  were  the  children  of 
God,  Jesus  said,  "Ye  are  of  your  Father  the  devil,  and 
the  lusts  of  your  Father  ye  will  do ;" 2  thus  charging  them 
with  complete  alienation  of  heart  from  God,  and  alliance 
with  the  spirit  of  darkness  and  evil.  And  again,  He  de- 
clared the  source  of  all  evil  in  the  world  to  be  the  sinful 
heart  that  is  in  man;  "for  from  within,  out  of  the  heart  of 
men,  proceed  evil  thoughts,  adulteries,  fornications,  mur- 
ders, thefts,  covetousness,  wickedness,  deceit,  lasciviousness, 
an  evil  eye,  blasphemy,  pride,  foolishness;  all  these  evil 
things  come  from  within,  and  defile  the  man." 3  Not  only 
do  overt  deeds  of  vice  and  crime  proceed  from  an  evil 
heart,  but  together  with  the  grossest  outward  acts,  and  as 
included  in  the  same  condemnation,  are  enumerated  pride, 
envy,  covetousness,  evil  thoughts;  all  these  are  hidden 
within  the  heart,  and  these  "defile  the  man"  before  God. 
Manifold  as  are  the  forms  of  evil  in  the  world,  there  is  but 
one  common  fountain  of  evil,  and  that  is  the  heart  of  man. 
There  is  no  mistaking  the  judgment  of  Jesus  Christ 
upon  that  point: — the  doctrine  of  the  universal  sinfulness 
of  mankind  lay  at  the  basis  of  His  scheme  of  renovation, 
and  His  doctrine  of  the  necessity  of  a  new  birth  grew  logi- 
cally out  of  that : — both  are  fundamental  in  His  theology. 
The  terms  of  admission  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven  are 
the  same  for  all;  the  reformation  that  is  demanded  is  not 
renouncing   one's  more  flagrant  or  conspicuous  sins,  lop- 

1  Luke  xiii.  4.  *  John  via.  44.  *  Mark  vii.  21-23. 


THE   NATURE   OF   REPENTANCE.  41 

ping  off  individual  vices  or  habits,  but  transforming  the 
sinful  heart  into  a  new  and  holy  heart.  "  Now  do  ye 
Pharisees  make  clean  the  outside  of  the  cup  and  the  plat- 
ter ;  but  your  inward  part  is  full  of  ravening  and  wicked- 
ness." » 

It  is  not  with  sins  alone  that  the  gospel  of  Christ  has  to 
do,  but  with  Sin,  and  directly  with  the  seat  and  source  of 
sin,  the  Heart  of  Man.2 

Keeping  in  mind  that  the  kingdom  of  God  consists  in 
recognizing  God  as  the  Saviour  and  receiving  Him  into  the 
heart  as  its  Lord,  one  can  no  longer  marvel  that  whoever 
would  attain  unto  the  consciousness  of  that  kingdom  with- 
in himself  must  be  born  again;  so  changed  in  heart — 
changed  from  an  evil,  sinful  heart  to  a  heart  that  loves 
God  and  seeks  after  holiness — so  changed  in  his  fundamen- 
tal conceptions  and  principles  of  life,  and  in  all  his  several 
purposes,  motives,  and  actions,  that  he  shall  be  throughout 
another  man.  Such  was  the  doctrine  of  Jesus ;  the  fair  in- 
terpretation of  His  sayings  teaches  nothing  less  than  this. 
To  have  the  fruit  good,  the  tree  must  first  be  made  good. 

Practically,  as  matter  of  experience,  the  new  birth  includes 
and  requires  repentance  and  the  renunciation  of  sin.  John 
the  Baptist  proclaimed  the  coming  of  Jesus  by  preaching 
"  Repent  ye  :  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand  :  and 
many  were  baptized  of  him  in  Jordan,  confessing  their 
sins."  3  When  Jesus  began  to  preach  He  gave  the  same 
exhortation  :  "  Repent,  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at 
hand."  The  repenting  enjoined  by  the  gospel  is  literally 
to  change  one's  mind — fieravoicze,  review  your  course 
and  turn  from  it; — it  implies  reflection,  compunction, 
and  regret  in  the  review  of  the  past,  but  these  frames 
and  experiences  do  not  constitute  the  fact  of  repent- 
ance ;  the  essence  of  that  is  the  change  of  mind  to 
which  reflection  and  compunction  lead — a  change  of  the 

i  Luke  xi.  39.  2  Matt.  xii.  33.  »  Matt.  iii.  2,  6. 


42  THE   THEOLOGY    OF   CHRIST. 

whole  mind,  in  desire,  feeling,  thought,  purpose,  action,  a 
change  in  the  whole  spirit  and  intent  of  life  as  toward 
God  and  His  truth,  and  all  that  affects  character ;  and  in- 
asmuch as  the  heart  has  yielded  itself  to  carnal,  selfish, 
worldly  desires  and  aims — in  a  word,  is  sinful — it  must 
repent  of  this,  renounce  this  way  of  life  as  the  first  step 
toward  the  kingdom  of  God.  Hence  Christ  insisted  so 
much  that  if  any  man  would  become  His  disciple,  he 
must  begin  by  denying  himself — must  put  self  down  in 
order  to  set  up  Christ  as  his  king.  "  No  man  can  serve 
two  masters :  ye  cannot  serve  God  and  mammon."  1  In 
being  born  again  one  is  not  passive ;  but  in  becoming 
spiritually  a  new  man,  every  one  has  this  to  do  for  him- 
self— to  repent  of  and  renounce  his  own  sin. 

But  the  new  birth  is  more  than  repenting.  One  may 
have  contrition  for  sin,  be  ashamed  of  it,  resolve  truly  to 
forsake  it,  and  yet  through  habit  or  weakness  return  to  it 
again  and  again ;  to  be  born  anew  implies  that  repentance  is 
confirmed  and  the  renunciation  of  sin  made  sure  by  bring- 
ing into  the  soul  a  new  life-power  from  the  Spirit  of  God. 
To  purify  the  heart  from  evil  is  the  vital  principle  of  the 
new  life,  and  its  effectual  operation  will  constitute  the  per- 
fection of  that  life  ; — "  Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart,  for 
they  shall  see  God.""  2  Repentance  alone  does  not  purify. 
To  be  sorry  for  sin  is  not  in  itself  the  same  thing  as  to  be- 
come holy ;  and  since  sinful  desires  have  ruled  the  heart, 
and  sin  has  gained  possession  of  the  imagination,  the 
reason,  the  inclinations,  the  will, — of  the  whole  man  as  a 
thinking,  feeling,  acting  soul — one's  own  resolution,  how- 
ever sincere,  one's  own  decision,  however  earnest,  proves 
too  weak  to  eradicate  the  propensity  to  evil.  Therefore 
must  we  be  re-enforced  from  above ;  we  should  never  suc- 
ceed in  purifying  ourselves — ''for  that  which  is  born  of  the 
flesh  is  flesh" — and  our  best  purposes  of  amendment  would 

1  Luke  xvi.  13.  2  Matt.  v.  8. 


BORN    OF    THE    SPIRIT.  43 

begin  under  the  limitations  of  weakness  and  the  taint  of 
old  carnal  habits.  Spiritual  life  within  us  must  be  born  of 
the  Spirit  of  God.  Christ  has  taught  us  that  one  feature 
of  this  new  birth  is  humility — casting  away  pride  and 
self-will  and  taking  a  lowly  place  as  a  sinner  before  the 
holy  God; — "Blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit,  for  theirs  is  the 
kingdom  of  heaven :" l  "  Except  ye  be  converted,  and  be- 
come as  little  children,  ye  shall  not  enter  into  the  kingdom 
of  heaven."2  The  Jewish  Rabbis  had  a  saying,  "A 
penitent  man  must  be  like  one  to-day  new-born." 

But  Christ  said  further,  "  Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart, 
for  they  shall  see  God."  3  Now  the  humbling  is  our  proper 
act ;  we  can  and  must  abase  ourselves  before  God,  confes- 
sing our  sins ;  but  for  the  purifying  we  need  help  from  the 
Spirit  of  all  purity,  the  Holy  Spirit.  This  Jesus  taught 
specifically  as  the  being  born  from  above, — the  normal 
signification  of  avojQzv,  which  is  veiled  under  the  idea  of  a 
new   birth.     The  two  ideas  are  strictly  correlative. 

John  had  said,  "  I  baptize  you  with  water  unto  repent- 
ance " 4 — the  baptism  being  a  symbol  of  the  washing  away 
of  sins,  which  they  who  came  to  be  baptized  professed  to 
have  repented  of  and  forsaken.  Yet  so  far  was  John  from 
ascribing  to  baptism  a  regenerative  virtue,  that  he  spoke 
of  the  repentance  which  it  signified  as  but  preparatory  to  a 
work  of  divine  purification  within  the  soul,  and  added 
that  in  order  to  the  full  realization  of  the  kingdom, 
through  its  power  and  majesty  possessing  the  entire  in- 
tellectual and  moral  nature,  Jesus  must  "baptize  them 
with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  fire  "5 —  truly  and  ef- 
fectually cleanse  them  by  an  inward  process  of  purifying. 
And  so  Christ  Himself  taught,  "  Except  a  man  be  born  of 
water  and  of  the  Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  king- 
dom of  God."  By  the  act  of  baptism  one  professes  him- 
self new-born  as  to  the  purpose  of 'his  heart,  in  renouncing 

i  Matt.  v.  3.    »  Matt,  xviii.  3.    »  Matt.  v.  8.    *  Matt,  ill-  11.      >  Matt.  iii.  11. 


44  THE    THEOLOGY    OF    CHRIST. 

liis  sins ;  but  unless  that  purpose  has  itself  sprung  from 
the  quickening  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  is  sustained 
and  energized  by  that,  it  will  prove  as  evanescent  as  the 
water  applied  in  the  outward  rite.  The  real  birth  is  of 
the  Spirit. 

The  complete  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Spirit  as  taught  by 
Christ  will  be  unfolded  in  a  subsequent  chapter. 1  Just  here 
we  are  concerned  simply  with  His  declaration  of  the  neces- 
sity of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  the  effective  regeneration  of  the 
soul.  And  the  point  of  inquiry  is  not  the  mode  of  the  Spirit's 
operation  in  the  new  birth,  which  Christ  did  not  explain, 
and  which  philosophy  can  but  conjecture ;  but  the  necessity 
of  this  supernatural  work,  which  Jesus  made  fundamental 
in  His  scheme  of  salvation.  That  necessity  arises  from  the 
fact  that  sin,  having  gained  control  over  the  moral  powers 
and  affections  of  the  man,  holds  him  in  subjection,  like 
"  a  strong  man  armed ; "  conscience  is  dormant,  religious 
sensibility  is  sluggish,  the  will  itself  is  chained  by  habit 
to  a  course  of  evil,  and  paralyzed  in  its  movements  toward 
the  good;  but  the  Spirit  of  God  convincing  of  sin, 
awakening  the  sense  of  guilt  in  view  of  the  righteousness 
of  God,  and  of  condemnation  in  view  of  the  coming  judg- 
ment, breaks  the  spell  of  evil,  restores  to  their  normal 
action  the  moral  faculties  whose  service  of  evil  had  become 
a  second  nature,  and  by  the  power  of  truth  renews  and 
sanctifies  the  soul. 2  This  action  of  the  divine  Spirit  upon 
the  human  Christ  likened  to  the  wind,  which  is  marked 
by  its  effects.  "  The  wind  is  the  emblem  of  concealed " 
power,  perceptible  to  observation,  but  inscrutable  to  the 
understanding  : " 3  "  The  wind  bloweth  where  it  listeth, 
and  thou  nearest  the  sound  thereof,  but  canst  not  tell 
whence  it  cometh,  and  whither  it  goeth :  so  is  every  one 
that  is  born  of  the  Spirit." i    Nicodemus,  again  perplexed 

i  See  Chap.  XII.    *  John  xvi.  S,  13  ;    xvii.  17.     3  Stier,  "  Words  of  Jems," 
in  loc.     *  John  iii.  8. 


PROFESSOR  PHELrS   ON   SAUL'S   CONVERSION.  45 

and  confounded,  exclaimed,  "  How  can  these  things  be  ?  " 
But  Jesus  maintained  a  reserve  that  not  even  the  eager 
questioning  of  His  own  disciples  could  penetrate,  concern- 
ing those  "  heavenly  things  "  that  lie  beyond  human  dis- 
covery, and  that  philosophy  of  the  supernatural  which 
the  highest  intellects  have  essayed  in  vain. l  He  held  up 
the  fact  of  the  new  birth  as  proof  of  the  working  of 
a  divine  power  within  the  soul,  which  like  the  wind,  is 
invisible  as  a  cause,  yet  recognized  by  the  force,  the  sud- 
denness, or  the  magnitude  of  its  effects.  "  So  is  every  one 
that  is  born  of  the  Spirit." 

The  doctrine  of  Jesus  was  that  "  the  experience  of  the 
new  birth  is  suggestive  of  a  supernatural  cause.  Take,  for 
example,  the  conversion  of  the  Apostle  Paul.  Look  at  it 
as  a  fact  in  the  history  of  mind.  Set  aside,  as  irrelevant 
to  the  object  before  us,  whatever  was  miraculous  in  the 
events  of  that  journey  to  Damascus.  Make  no  account  of 
the  supernatural  light,  the  voice  from  heaven,  the  shock 
of  blindness.  Consider  not  the  means,  but  the  manner  of 
that  change  in  the  man.  Mark  its  impetuosity.  Note 
the  instantaneousness  of  that  arrest  of  passion.  It  is  like 
a  torrent  frozen  in  mid-air.  Observe  the  revulsion  of 
feeling.  Threatening  and  slaughter  give  place  to  convic- 
tion of  sin.  Malignity  is  supplanted  by  prayer.  Perceive 
the  revolution  of  character  in  that  instant  of  trembling 
and  astonishment.  Call  it  regeneration,  conversion,,  new 
birth,  or  by  titles  more  comely  to  philosophic  taste ;  call 
it  what  you  will,  it  is  a  change  of  character.  The  Phari- 
see becomes  a  penitent.  The  persecutor  becomes  a 
Christian.  The  murderer  becomes  a  saint.  For  aught 
that  appears  in  the  narrative,  the  change  is  almost  like  a 
flash  of  lightning.  How  brief  the  colloquy  which  pro- 
claims the  whole  of  it !  "  Who  art  thou,  Lord  ?  "  "  I  am 
Jesus."     "  Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do  ?  "     We 

i  John  iii.  12,  Acta  i.  7. 


46  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

do  not  know  that  mind  can  move  more  rapidly  than  this 
in  such  a  juncture  of  its  history,  and  yet  move  intelli- 
gently. Then  put  together  the  two  lives  of  the  man — 
his  life  before,  and  his  life  after  this  convulsive  crisis. 
Saul  and  Paul  join  hands  over  this  invisible  gulf,  as  over 
the  river  of  death — the  same  being,  yet  two  different  men. 
His  character  has  experienced  a  change  like  the  transmu- 
tation of  metals.  Take  these  as  facts  of  sober  mental 
history,  and  do  they  not  seem  to  speak  the  presence  of  a 
supernatural  power?  If  the  world  could  come  to  that 
ninth  chapter  of  the  Acts  as  to  a  modern  discovery  in 
psychology,  philosophic  systems  would  grow  out  of  it; 
all  futile  in  explanation  of  the  process,  but  all  confessing 

the  reality  and  the  divinity  of  the  thirg The 

world,  from  the  beginning  until  now,  has  inferred  the 
presence  of  supernal  agencies  in  the  mental  changes  of 
men,  from  less  conclusive  evidences  than  those  furnished 
by  such  a  conversion.  Socrates  believed — and  philosophy 
has  revered  him  for  the  faith — that  an  invisible  spirit 
swayed  his  thought,  and  he  believed  it  on  less  evidence 
than  this.  Napoleon  believed  and  poetry  has  discovered 
piety  in  the  faith — that  supernatural  power  intervened  in 
his  destiny ;  and  he  believed  it  on  less  evidence  than  this. 
It  has  passed  into  the  cant  of  literature  to  ascribe  inspira- 
tion, even  divinity,  to  great  minds  on  infinitely  less 
evidence  than  this."  l 

That  one  must  be  born  of  the  Spirit  as  Christ  taught 
this  necessity,  is  a  doctrine  full  of  encouragement,  since 
what  is  presented  is  not  a  metaphysical  abstraction,  but 
the  fact  of  help,  present  help,  efficient  help,  divine  help  in 
becoming  a  new  man.  One  who  has  been  long  becalmed 
at  sea,  or  driven  by  contrary  winds,  when  at  last  a  favor- 

1  The  New  Birth,  or  the  Work  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  by  Austin  Phelps,  D.D.,  Pro- 
fessor in  Andover  Theological  Seminary.  The  whole  subject  of  regeneration 
is  here  discussed  in  a  masterly  manner. 


need  of  Christ's  coming.  47 

ing  gale  springs  up,  makes  haste  to  catch  it,  puts  his  helm 
to  the  course  indicated  by  the  breeze  and  spreads  his 
canvass  so  as  to  secure  the  full  benefit  of  the  wind,  with- 
out once  troubling  himself  with  theories  of  meteorology,  or 
demanding  how  the  wind  is  brought  to  act  upon  him.  So 
one  driven  to  and  fro  by  the  passions  of  life,  longing  and 
sighing  for  peace,  may  be  suddenly  conscious  that  some 
heavenly  breeze  is  floating  over  him,  and  if  he  will  but 
spread  the  wings  of  faith  and  prayer  he  shall  catch  its 
gracious  influence  and  be  wafted  into  rest.  What  matters 
it  that  he  does  not  know  how  this  strange  new  feeling  has 
come  over  him,  nor  why  it  so  excites  him  to  hope  and 
zeal?  There  are  realities  in  the  spiritual  world  whose 
certainty  is  not  impaired  for  lack  of  our  philosophy,  and 
it  is  enough  to  know  that  the  Holy  Spirit  comes  from 
God,  and  comes  to  him.  Yielding  his  repentant,  willing 
soul  to  the  renewing,  sanctifying  power  of  the  truth,  he  is 
"born  of  the  Spirit,"  and  that  is  salvation  from  sin  and 
death. 

There  was  no  need  that  Jesus  should  come  from  heaven 
to  teach  us  that  we  have  sinned ;  that,  alas,  we  know,  and 
sometimes  feel  with  bitter  upbraiding.  There  was  no 
need  that  He  should  come  from  heaven  to  teach  us  that  we 
must  repent;  this  we  know  by  the  judgment  and  reproof 
of  our  own  moral  sense.  But  when  one  as  in  the  anguish 
of  despair  cries  out,  How  shall  I  change  my  will,  break 
off  from  sin,  and  truly  become  a  better  man  ? — to  answer 
that  question,  it  was  needful  that  Jesus  the  Christ  should 
come  from  God  and  say,  "  Believe  on  Me ;  receive  the 
Holy  Ghost."  The  Spirit  convinces  of  sin,  and  the  very 
conviction  that  prompts  that  almost  despairing  cry  may  be 
the  beginning  of  His  work  of  renewal — that  cry,  the  birth- 
cry  of  that  soul.  The  Spirit  sanctifies  through  the  truth  ; 
and  this  very  truth  of  His  own  presence  to  convince, 
renew,  and  help,  He  may  be  pressing  upon  the  soul  as  its 


48  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

hope  in  the  dark  struggle  with  guilt  and  fear.  If  the 
heart  will  but  open  to  this  higher  influence,  it  shall  be 
lifted  up  to  God,  and  sustained  where  all  its  own  resolves 
would  fail.  How  shall  one  become  a  new  man?  How 
find  God  and  heaven  as  a  reality,  a  possession  ?  Let  him 
do  his  known  duty ;  do  that  which  he  himself,  and  only 
he,  can  do;  let  him  repent  of  his  sins,  and  give  up  the 
purpose  of  sinning !  Then  in  the  spirit  of  a  little  child, 
let  him  look  to  Christ  for  grace  to  help,  to  sanctify,  and 
save.  In  that  moment  of  penitence  and  faith,  casting 
away  his  old  self  that  he  may  cast  himself  wholly  upon 
Christ,  he  is  born  of  the  Spirit,  and  enters  into  the 
kingdom  of  God. 


CHAPTER  V. 

SALVATION    MADE    POSSIBLE    THROUGH    THE    DEATH    OP 
CHRIST. 

Oxe  can  certify  himself  of  his  repentance  ;  can  he  also 
be  certified  that  his  repentance  is  accepted  of  God  ?  One 
may  be  conscious  of  his  dependence  upon  divine  power  to 
strengthen  him  against  the  evil  that  is  within  him  and 
around  him ;  but  how  shall  he  make  sure  that  this  aid  will 
be  given  him  in  his  extremity?  Has  God  manifested  a 
concern  for  our  salvation  ? — promised  anything,  done  any- 
thing, to  assure  us  that  sin  repented  of  shall  be  forgiven, 
that  the  new  life  shall  be  inwrought  and  sustained  in  our 
souls  ?  Upon  the  answer  to  these  questions  all  hope  and 
courage  for  reformation  must  depend.  The  answer  is 
given  in  that  thrilling,  that  sublime  announcement:  "God 
so  loved  the  world  that  He  gave  His  only  begotten  Son, 
that  whosoever  believeth  in  Him  should  not  perish,  but 
have  everlasting  life." *  For  this  very  purpose  Jesus 
Christ  came  into  the  world ;  for  this  very  purpose  He  lived 
in  the  flesh  ;  for  this  very  purpose  He  died  upon  the  cross 
— that  through  faith  in  the  sinless  man  there  lifted  up  in 
triumph  over  sin  and  death,  we  might  receive  not  new  life 
only,  but  life  everlasting.  All  this  did  Christ  Himself  in- 
clude in  that  saying  to  Nicodemus  which  linked  the  sym- 
bolism of  the  Old  Testament  with  His  personal  history : 
i:  As  Moses  lifted  up  the  serpent  in  the  wilderness,  even  so 
must  the  Son  of  Man  be  lifted  up,  that  whosoever  believ- 

1  John  iii.  16.     For  a  critical  discussion  of  this  text  see  Chap.  vi. 

4  49 


50  THE   THEOLOGY    OF   CHRIST. 

eth  in  Him  should  not  perish,  but  have  eternal  life."1 
"  Should  not  perish  J"  "  Must  be  lifted  up  !"  There  was, 
then,  upon  the  whole  race  a  liability  to  perish,  which  could 
be  averted  only  by  the  death  of  the  Son  of  Man.  Surely 
these  words  of  Jesus  cannot  mean  less  than  this — that  His 
death  upon  the  cross  sustained  a  necessary  and  vital  rela- 
tion to  the  deliverance  of  men  from  a  doom  that  is  here 
contrasted  with  everlasting  life.  The  question  is  not  one 
of  philosophy,  but  solely  one  of  interpretation. 

"What,  then,  did  Jesus  intend  by  the  "  lifting  up  "  of  the 
Son  of  Man  ?  Upon  two  other  occasions  He  used  the  same 
expression,  and  a  comparison  of  these  will  furnish  a  key  to 
its  meaning.  In  a  dispute  with  the  Pharisees  concern- 
ing His  divine  mission,  Jesus,  knowing  their  murderous  in- 
tent towards  Him,  said  unto  them,  "  When  ye  have  lifted 
up  the  Son  of  Man,  then  shall  ye  know  that  I  am  He."  2 
This  could  not  have  referred  to  the  glorification  of  Christ, 
His  being  received  up  into  heaven  after  death,  for  the  verb 
is  not  passive,  but  denotes  the  act  of  the  Jews  in  lifting 
Him  up — b(pcba-/]T£.  Hence  it  can  only  refer  to  His  being 
crucified  by  their  hands.  That  purpose  to  have  His  life, 
which  He  knew  was  raging  in  their  hearts,  and  which  He 
more  than  once  referred  to  in  this  same  discussion,  would 
be  accomplished  in  lifting  Him  up  upon  the  cross. 

Again,  as  He  drew  near  the  close  of  life,  in  setting  forfrh 
the  destined  triumph  of  His  gospel,  He  said :  "  And  I,  if  I 
be  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will  draw  all  men  unto  Me."  3 
The  evangelist  adds  the  comment,  "  This  He  said,  signify- 
ing what  death  He  should  die."  That  the  interpretation 
given  by  John  was  the  true  one  is  clear  from  the  whole 
argument  of  the  context.  Jesus  had  likened  Himself  to 
the  corn  of  wheat  cast  into  the  ground,  "  which  if  it  die, 

*  John  iii.  14,  15.        2  John  viii.  28  :  compare  v.  37  :    "  Ye  seek  to  kill  me." 
8  John  xii.  32. 


THE    MEANING   OP    "LIFTED    UP."  51 

bringeth  forth  much  fruit ;"  l  in  like  manner  would  the  Son 
of  Man  be  glorified  in  the  multitude  of  disciples  that  His 
being  lifted  up  would  draw  unto  Him.  The  Jews  clearly- 
understood  Him  by  this  to  refer  to  His  death,  for  they  an- 
swered with  evident  surprise,  "  We  have  heard  out  of  the 
law  that  Christ  abideth  forever" — their  notion  of  the  Mes- 
siah was  that  He  would  live  and  reign  uninterruptedly  in 
this  world  : — "  how  sayest  Thou  then,  '  The  Son  of  Man 
must  be  lifted  up  ?' "  The  being  lifted  up  is  clearly 
opposed  to  the  idea  of  abiding  forever,  and  hence  it  signi- 
fies death  as  contrasted  with  an  uninterrupted  life. 

The  very  manner  of  Christ's  death  is  hinted  by  this 
phrase:  "If  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth."  There  is 
much  plausibility  in  the  suggestion  that,  as  our  Lord  spoke 
in  the  Aramaean  tongue — then  the  dialect  of  the  common 
people  in  Israel — he  used  the  Chaldee  term  z'kaph  (Ezra 
vi.  11)  or  tah-Wi  (Esther  vii.  9,  10,  ix.  13)  which  the 
Jews  would  understand  to  mean  to  hang  up  a  criminal  on 
a  post,  or  adapting  this  to  the  Roman  custom — to  crucify. 2 
Dr.  E.  Riggs,  in  his  manual  of  the  Chaldee  language,  de- 
fines z'kaph,  "  to  suspend,  as  a  malefactor  on  a  gallows  or 
cross."  Euerst  gives  the  meaning — "to  raise  up,  as  a 
cross,  to  hang  up ;"  and  tah-ldh  to  hang  up  on  a  stake, 
for  capital  punishment.  Thus  Hainan  was  "lifted  up" 
upon  the  gallows ;  and  the  same  penalty  was  threatened  by 
Darius  for  mutilating  a  royal  edict :  "  Whosoever  shall 
alter  this  decree,  let  timber  be  pulled  down  from  his  house, 
and  being  '  set  up '  let  him  be  hanged  thereon."  3 

The  Chaldee,  which  belonged  to  one  of  the  three  grand 
divisions  of  the  Shemitish  languages, 4  was  the  language  of 
Babylonia  in  the  time  of  the  Jewish  captivity.  That  the 
Jews   there   acquired   it,  is  evident  from  remains  of  the 

1  John  xii.  24.  2  Olshausen,  Com.  John,  iii.  14. 

8  Ezra  vi.  11.  *  Aramcean,  Hebrew,  and  Arabic ;  the  Chaldee  and  the  Syriac 
were  sub-divisions  of  Aramcean, — East  and  West. 


52  THE    THEOLOGY    OF    CHRIST. 

dialect  in  the  books  of  Ezra  and  Daniel ; x  and  on  their  return 
to  Palestine  they  brought  this  with  them  as  their  vernacular 
tongue.  By  degrees  the  name  Hebrew  was  transferred  to 
this°  Babylonish  dialect :  but  "  in  the  time  of  Christ,  the 
popular  speech  of  the  Jews  in  Palestine  was  not  pure 
Hebrew,  but  Syro-Chaldaic.  Accordingly,  imitations  and 
literal  translations  of  numerous  ordinary  expressions  of 
that  language  must  have  been  introduced  into  Jewish 
Greek." 2  The  Greek  language  which,  from  the  time  of 
Alexander  the  Great,  gradually  won  its  way  in  the  pro- 
vinces of  Asia  and  Africa  that  were  subjected  to  Mace- 
donian rule,  so  far  as  it  was  used  by  the  Jews  of  Palestine, 
was  affected  both  in  its  idioms  and  in  the  meaning  of  par- 
ticular words  by  the  Chaldee  dialect.  That  Christ  habit- 
ually used  this  dialect  is  highly  probable ;  at  least,  the  fact 
that  in  His  death-agony  upon  the  cross  He  cried  out  in 
this  tongue,3  shows  that  it  was  most  natural  to  Him. 
Spoken  in  that  tongue,  the  expression  "  to  be  lifted  up  " 
could  have  no  doubtful  reference  to  the  manner  of  His 
death. 

But  this  interpretation  of  the  phrase  does  not  depend 
upon  the  supposition  that  it  was  originally  uttered  in  the 
Chaldee  tongue:  Both  the  Jews  at  large  and  the  particu- 
lar disciples  of  Jesus  understood  it  in  this  sense :  and  their 
enthusiastic  dream  of  an  immortal  reign  of  the  Messiah 
upon  earth  was  confounded  by  the  declaration  that  the  Son 
of  Man  must  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth.  And  as  this  lift- 
ing up  would  be  compassed  by  the  malicious  machinations 
of  the  Pharisees,  who  sought  to  kill  Him,  it  could  only 
refer  to  the  lifting  up  on  the  cross. 4  Thus  from  the  very 
opening  of  His  ministry,  Jesus  knew  not  only  that  He 

1  Ezra  iv.  8;  vi.  18;  vii.  12,  26;  Daniel  ii.  4;  vii.  28.  2  TViner,  Gram- 
mar of  lie  Xcw  Testament  Diction,  Sec.  HI:  also,  Riggs,  Manual  of  the 
Ckald*   Language,  Sec.  II.   Bleek,  Einleitvng  in  das  N.  T.  #21-36. 

»  Matthew  xxvii.  48.     EH,  EH,  htma  eabachthani.         *  John  viii.  28,  37. 


Christ's  death  the  object  of  faith.  53 

should  die,  but  that  He  should  be  crucified;  that  His 
death  would  uot  take  place  in  the  course  of  nature,  but  by 
violence ;  and  this  not  by  stoning,  as  Stephen  afterwards 
was  stoned  by  the  mob,  nor  by  beheading,  as  John  the  Bap- 
tist suffered,  but  by  being  lifted  up  upon  the  cross.  That 
Jesus  distinctly  foreknew  the  manner  of  His  death  is  plain 
from  His  sayings  to  the  disciples  recorded  by  Matthew : * 
"  From  that  time  forth  began  Jesus  to  show  unto  His  disci-' 
pies  how  that  He  must  go  unto  Jerusalem,  and  suffer  many 
things  of  the  elders,  and  chief  priests  and  scribes,  and  be 
killed,  and  raised  again  the  third  day."  "  Behold,  we  go 
up  to  Jerusalem ;  and  the  Son  of  Man  shall  be  betrayed 
unto  the  chief  priests,  and  unto  the  scribes,  and  they  shall 
condemn  Him  to  death,  and  shall  deliver  Him  to  the 
Gentiles  to  mock,  and  to  scourge,  and  to  crucify  Him." 

But  this  death  would  possess  a  virtue  that  can  be 
affirmed  of  none  other.  Christ  announced  to  Nicodemus 
a  mystery  greater  even  than  that  of  the  new  birth,  when 
He  said  that  His  crucifixion  was  appointed  as  necessary 
to  the  salvation  of  mankind  : — "  The  Son  of  Man  must  be 
lifted  up,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  Him  should  not 
perish,  but  have  eternal  life." 2  The  provision  of  sal- 
vation was  directly  connected  with,  and  vitally  dependent 
upon   the    crucifixion. 

That  salvation  comes  through  believing  in  Christ,  that 
faith  in  the  Son  of  Man  is  the  condition  of  life,  was  taught 
by  Jesus  under  every  possible  form  of  expression.  "  He 
that  believeth  on  Me  hath  everlasting  life."  3  "  If  ye  be- 
lieve not  that  I  am  He  " — the  Messiah,  the  sent  of  God, 
"  ye  shall  die  in  your  sins." 4  "  He  that  believeth  and  is 
baptized  shall  be  saved ;  but  he  that  believeth  not  shall  b  i 
damned."5  But  the  text  under  consideration  goes  beyoi. 
the  fact  of  believing  to  its  ground,  and  connects  the  act  of 

1  Matthew  xvi.  21 ;    xx.  18.      2  John  iii.  15.     3  John  vi.  47.     *  John  viii.  24. 
6  Mark  xvi.  16. 


54  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

faith  directly  with  the  death  of  Christ  as  a  necessary  pro- 
vision for  the  salvation  that  comes  by  faith  : — "  The  Son 
of  Man  must  be  lifted  up,  that  whosoever  believeth  in 
Him  should  not  perish ;  "-dec  has  here  the  force  of  a  moral 
necessity ; — to  meet  the  requirements  of  the  case  and  to 
fulfill  the  purpose  of  God,  it  was  necessary  that  the  Son 
of  Man  be  lifted  up-:  the  ha  has  the  telic  sense,  in  order 
that,  to  the  end  that, — so  that  this  result  might  be  secured. 
Hence  the  death  of  Jesus  upon  the  cross  sustained  a 
necessary  and  vital  relation  to  the  salvation  of  mankind. 
How  else  can  we  account  for  the  emphasis  that  Christ 
gave  to  His  dying  as  the  condition  precedent  to  salvation 
by  faith  ?  One  might  believe  that  Jesus  was  the  eternal 
Son  of  -God,  that  He  became  incarnate,  that  He  lived  a 
holy  life,  that  He  did  the  works  of  God,  that  He  taught 
divine  truth,  that  His  teachings  if  followed  would  make 
men  wise  and  holy  and  happy — one  might  believe  all 
this  irrespective  of  the  question  how  this  Jesus  died,  or 
whether  He  died  at  all.  Had  the  Son  of  Man  been  trans- 
lated like  Enoch  and  Elijah,  without  tasting  death,  or  had 
He  died  in  the  ordinary  course  of  nature,  one  might  still 
to  a  certain  extent  have  believed  in  His  mission,  His  life, 
and  His  teachings.  But  simply  to  believe  in  His  super- 
natural advent,  His  perfect  character,  His  true  and  wise 
sayings,  does  not  reach  the  measure  and  quality  of  the 
faith  that  Jesus  Himself  prescribed.  Faith  to  that  extent 
was  avowed  by  Nicodemus  at  the  opening  of  his  interview 
with  Christ : — «  Rabbi,  we  know  that  thou  art  a  teacher 
come  from  God ;  for  no  man  can  do  these  miracles  that 
thou  doest,  except  God  be  with  him."  This  was  a  con- 
fession of  the  divine  mission  of  Jesus,  of  His  divine 
works,  and  the  divine  authority  of  His  teachings:  a 
faith  so  strong  that  it  gave  the  conviction  of  certainty ;  a 
faith  so  sincere  that  he  came  to  Jesus  with  a  declaration 
of  confidence,  and  in  the  spirit  of  a  disciple,  to  learn  from 


Him  tli3  higher  signs  and  privileges  of  the  kingdom  of 
God.  Yet  to  this  very  master  in  Israel,  who  was  thus 
forward  to  acknowledge  Him  as  a  divine  teacher,  Jesus 
prescribed  quite  another  element  of  faith,  and  another 
ground  upon  which  faith  in  Himself  should  rest,  a  faith 
conditioned  upon  His  crucifixion,  and  to  arise  out  of 
that : — "  As  Moses  lifted  up  the  serpent  in  the  wilderness, 
even  so  must  the  Son  of  Man  be  lifted  up,  that  whoso- 
ever believeth  in  Him  should  not  perish."  Believing  unto 
salvation,  faith  that  would  lead  to  eternal  life,  this  must 
arise  from  looking  unto  Christ  as  "  lifted  up "  upon  the 
cross. 

Christ  taught  this  same  doctrine  when  a  little  before 
His  death,  with  explicit  reference  to  the  salvation  of  the 
world,  He  said,  "  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will 
draw  all  men  unto  me."  l  Certain  Greek  proselytes  had 
expressed  a  desire  to  "  see  Jesus ; "  His  disciples,  who 
looked  upon  Him  as  the  Messiah  to  the  Jews  alone, 
hesitated  to  present  them,  but  brought  the  request  to  their 
Lord.  The  answer  of  Jesus,  instead  of  pronouncing 
categorically  upon  the  case  presented,  made  this  the  occa- 
sion of  proclaiming  the  universality  of  His  grace  and  the 
cosmopolitan  nature  of  His  kingdom. 

Hitherto  He  had  seemed  to  limit  His  personal  ministry 
to  the  Jews.  When  He  sent  forth  the  twelve  to  announce 
the  kingdom  of  heaven,  He  commanded  them  saying,  "  Go 
not  into  the  way  of  the  Gentiles,  and  into  any  city  of  the 
Samaritans  enter  ye  not :  but  go  rather  to  the  lost  sheep  of 
the  house  of  Israel ; " 2  and  to  the  woman  of  Syrophe- 
nicia  who  besought  Him  to  heal  her  daughter,  He  said, 
"  I  am  not  sent  but  unto  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of 
Israel." 3  But  now  He  announces  that  all  men  shall  be 
drawn  unto  Him,  and  this  as  consequent  upon  His  death. 
The  productive  effect  of  His  dying  He  sets  forth  under 

1  John  xii.  32.  2  Matt.  x.  5,  6.  3  Matt.  xv.  24. 


56  THE   THEOLOGY   OF  CHEIST. 

the  analogy  of  the  fructifying  seed :  "  The  hour  is  eome 
that  the  Son  of  Man  should  be  glorified.  Except  a  corn 
of  wheat  fall  into  the  ground  and  die,  it  abideth  alone ; 
but  if  it  die,  it  bringeth  forth  much  fruit."  !  Then  as  if 
struggling  in  His  own  spirit  with  the  impending  sacrifice, 
yet  implicitly  subjecting  His  own  will  to  the  will  of  His 
Father,  He  said,  "Now  is  my  soul  troubled;  and  Avhat 
shall  I  say  ?  Father,  save  me  from  this  hour  ?  but  for 
this  cause  came  I  unto  this  hour.  Father,  glorify  Thy 
name."  2  What  was  the  hour  that  hung  over  Him  with 
such  painful  but  momentous  issues,  but  the  hour  appointed 
for  His  sacrifice  upon  the  cross?  "  Now  is  the  judgment 
of  this  world ;  now  shall  the  prince  of  this  world  be  cast 
out;"3 — the  kingdom  of  darkness  shall  be  broken  down, 
"and  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will  draw  all 
men  unto  Me."  His  death  would  be  the  seed-corn  that 
should  bring  forth  a  new  life  for  all  mankind — the 
Gentile  world  as  well  as  the  people  of  Israel. 

In  the  light  of  this  usage  in  the  phrase  "  to  be  lifted 
up,"  it  is  most  significant  that,  in  His  conversation  with 
Nicodemus,  Jesus  did  not  speak  of  death  simply  as  an  event 
to  be  accepted  by  Him  in  the  spirit  of  submission.  He 
did  not  merely  avow  His  willingness  to  die — His  readi- 
ness, if  need  be,  to  suffer  martyrdom,  if  by  so  doing,  He 
could  benefit  mankind ;  nor  did  He  simply  prophesy  that 
after  His  death,  His  life  and  doctrine  would  be  illuminated 
by  that  event,  and  by  the  natural  and  progressive  influence 
of  truth,  light,  and  love,  would  become  a  means  of  salva- 
tion to  the  world; — much  more  than  this  lay  in  His 
thought.  From  the  first  He  looked  forward  to  His  cruci- 
fixion, His  being  "  lifted  up  "  as  the  appointed  termination 
of  His  life  and  ministry.  His  going  out  of  the  world  in 
that  manner  was  included  in  the  purpose  of  His  coming  into 
the  world.    His  dying  upon  the  cross  was  no  thing  of  acci- 

1  John  xii.  23,  24.  2  John  xii.  27.  3  John  xii.  31. 


THE   BRAZEN   SERPENT   A   SYMBOL.  57 

dent,  His  being  lifted  up  no  mere  incident  of  priestly  hate 
or  popular  excitement, — this  was  in  the  plan  of  His  mis- 
sion as  truly  as  were  His  advent,  His  preaching,  His 
miracles,  His  life  of  truth  and  love.  He  announced  to 
Nicodenius  as  one  of  the  truths  Pie  had  brought  down 
from  heaven,  the  necessary  and  vital  relation  of  His  death  to 
the  salvation  of  mankind;  and  for  the  key  to  this  doctrine, 
referred  him  to  a  memorable  incident  of  Jewish  history  as 
a  type  of  the  saving  benefit  to  be  derived  from  His  cruci- 
fixion. "  As  Moses  lifted  up  the  serpent  in  the  wilderness, 
even  so  must  the  Son  of  Man  be  lifted  up,  that  whosoever 
believeth  in  Him  should  not  perish,  but  have  eternal  life." 
That  was  a  day  of  terror  and  agony  in  the  wilderness 
when  fire-serpents l  swarmed  in  the  camp  of  Israel.  This 
venomous  reptile,  a  mottled  snake  with  fiery  red  spots  upon 
its  head,  abounds  at  certain  seasons  in  the  sandy  wilder- 
ness of  Arabah,  that  skirts  the  western  side  of  the  moun- 
tains of  Edom,  from  the  foot  of  the  Dead  Sea  to  the  Gulf 
of  Akabah.  It  is  the  terror  of  fishermen  along  the  Gulf, 
and  of  the  Bedouins  when  encamped  in  the  neighboring 
desert.2  So  inflammable  is  its  bite  that  it  is  likened  to  fire 
coursing  through  the  veins ;  so  intense  is  its  venom,  and  so 
rapid  in  its  action,  that  the  bite  is  fatal  within  a  few  hours. 
The  body  swells  with  a  fiery  eruption,  the  tongue  is  con- 

1  Numbers  xxi.  6,  8;  Deut.  viii.  15 :  the  term  Nahash,  the  generic  name  for 
serpent,  is  here  qualified  by  the  term  Saraph,  burning ;  which,  by  some,  is 
supposed  to  describe  a  fiery,  inflammable  bite,  but  by  others  the  fiery-red  ap- 
pearance of  the  serpent  itself,  especially  about  the  head. 

2  Burckhardt,  (Vol.  II.  p.  814)  says,  "  The  sand  on  the  shore  showed  traces 
of  snakes  on  every  hand.  My  guide  told  mc  that  snakes  were  very  common  in 
these  regions,  and  that  the  fishermen  were  very  much  afraid  of  them,  and  put 
out  their  fires  at  night  before  going  to  sleep,  because  the  light  was  known  to 
attract  them."  Schubert,  Journey  from  Aknbah  to  the  Hor  (ii.  406)  states  that 
"  in  the  afternoon  a  large  and  very  mottled  snake  was  brought  to  us,  marked 
•with  fiery  spots  and  spiral  lines,  which  evidently  belonged,  from  the  formation 
of  its  teeth,  to  one  of  the  most  poisonous  species.  The  Bedouins  say  that  these 
snakes,  of  which  they  have  great  dread,  are  very  numerous  in  this  locality." 


58  THE   THEOLOGY    OF    CHRIST. 

sumed  with  thirst,  and  the  poor  wretch  writhes  in  agony- 
till  death  brings  relief. 

This  pest  suddenly  appeared  in  the  camp  of  Israel  in 
prodigious  numbers  ;  from  crevices  in  the  rocks,  from  holes 
in  the  sand,  swarmed  these  fiery-headed  demons  into  every 
tent.  There  was  no  running  away  from  them,  and  killing 
seemed  hardly  to  diminish  their  numbers.  On  every  side 
there  was  a  cry  of  anguish — men,  women,  children  racked 
with  this  fiery  torture,  none  able  to  save  or  even  help 
another — "  and  much  people  of  Israel  died." 

In  this  extremity  the  people  came  to  Moses,  and 
besought  him  to  pray  the  Lord  to  take  away  the  serpents. 
They  came  confessing  their  sin,  and  acknowledging  that 
the  plague  was  a  just  retribution;  for  they  had  reviled 
Moses  as  the  cause  of  their  disappointments  and  fatigues  in 
the  desert,  and  had  even  reproached  the  name  of  God  for 
their  lack  of  bread  and  water.  Helpless,  self-condemned, 
in  danger  of  perishing,  they  now  felt  that  deliverance  must 
come  from  God,  and  could  come  from  God  only.  "  And 
Moses  prayed  for  the  people." l  The  manner  in  which  this 
prayer  was  answered  showed  the  hand  of  God  even  more 
distinctly  than  had  the  appearance  of  the  plague.  For  if 
Jehovah  were  about  to  interfere,  it  would  seem  probable 
that  He  would  act  upon  the  physical  cause  of  the  suffering, 
either  directly,  by  destroying  or  scattering  the  serpents,  or 
indirectly,  by  guiding  Moses  to  some  healing  herb  or  other 
means  of  cure — thus  providing  a  physical  remedy  for  a 
physical  evil.  But  He  chose  to  employ  a  moral  remedy, 
which  by  summoning  the  people  to  an  act  of  faith,  would 
bring  Jehovah  Himself  before  them  as  the  direct  author  of 
their  healing.  "The  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Make  thee  a 
fiery  serpent  and  set  it  upon  a  pole ;  and  it  shall  come  to 
pass,  that  every  one  that  is  bitten,  when  he  looketh  upon  it 
shall   live:"2 — and   presently  there  was  lifted  up    in  the 

1  Numbers  xzi.  7.  '  v.  8. 


THE   BRAZEN   SERPENT   A   SYMBOL.  59 

camp,  high  over  all  the  tents,  the  image  in  brass  of  the 
fiery  destroyer ;  and  from  every  tent  crawled  forth  the  bit- 
ten, dying  men,  or  were  carried  forth  by  hands  that  now 
had  faith  to  minister — and  they  looked ;  those  eyes  whose 
life  was  burning  out  in  the  fire  of  fever,  looked  where  the 
great  brazen  serpent  was  all  ablaze  in  the  sun,  (as  if  the 
myriad  fire-serpents  were  compressed  into  one  burning 
symbol) — looked,  to  behold  the  fierce  destroyer  nailed 
harmless  as  dead  metal  to  the  tree ;  looked,  to  learn  that 
Jehovah  was  in  the  camp  as  a  Deliverer,  and  would  destroy 
death  in  victory ;  looked,  and  with  the  look  came  healing ; 
looked,  and  the  eye  lost  its  madness,  and  shone  again  with 
the  brightness  of  hope ;  looked,  and  the  fiery  torrent  of  the 
veins  was  calmed,  and  the  pulse  beat  again  with  the  even 
flow  of  health  ;  looked,  and  he  who  just  now  stood  a  fiend 
of  despair  within  the  jaws  of  hell  came  forth  a  new  man,  in 
his  right  mind,  and  kissed  his  wife  and  children,  and  they 
together  worshiped  God ;  "  For  it  came  to  pass  that  if  a 
serpent  had  bitten  any  man,  when  he  beheld  the  serpent  of 
brass,  he  lived."  And  as  Moses  lifted  up  that  serpent  in 
the  day  of  death  and  despair  for  Israel,  even  so — in  like 
manner,  for  a  like  purpose,  with  like  significance,  the  Son 
of  Man  was  lifted  up,  and  hung  there  upon  the  cross  that 
all  Jerusalem  then  saw,  that  all  the  ages  since  have  seen, 
that  whosoever  believeth  in  Him  should  not  perish  but 
have  eternal  life. 

The  force  of  this  "  even  so  "  suggests  in  this  symbol  of 
the  serpent  a  significance  of  doctrine  concerning  Christ. 
First  of  all,  the  plague  of  serpents  was  because  of  sin. 
Though  the  agent  of  the  divine  displeasure  was  a  natural 
pest  belonging  to  that  locality,  yet  the  visitation  of  the  ser- 
pents was  a  judgment  from  God.  Ewald,  who  does  not  ques- 
tion the  authenticity  or  the  antiquity  of  this  narrative,  ad- 
mits this  element  in  the  case.  "  The  people  advancing  to- 
wards the  Red  Sea,  weary  of  the  hardships  of  the  tedious 


60  THE   THEOLOGY    OF    CHRIST. 

march,  and  tired  of  the  scanty  nourishment  afforded  by  the 
manna  of  the  desert,  complained  loudly  to  God  and  Moses 
of  the  want  of  bread  and  water.  Instead,  however,  of 
obtaining  relief,  they  thus  incurred  a  much  greater  evil, 
being  furiously  pursued  by  a  multitude  of  large  and  veno- 
mous serpents,  from  the  bites  of  which  many  died.  In 
this  they  recognized  God's  righteous  punishment  for  their 
murmuring,  and  repentantly  entreated  Moses  for  his  pro- 
phetical interposition."  x  In  the  plague  of  the  fiery  ser- 
pents, the  sin  of  unbelief,  ingratitude,  rebellion  against 
God,  was  visited  with  condemnation  and  penalty. 

Next,  the  people  terrified  and  humbled  by  the  judgment, 
and  cut  off  from  all  human  relief,  looked  to  Jehovah  for 
deliverance,  humbly  confessing  their  sins.  In  this  peni- 
tent frame  they  came  to  Moses  and  said,  "  We  have 
sinned,  for  we  have  spoken  against  the  Lord  and  against 
thee;  pray  unto  the  Lord,  that  He  may  take  away  the 
serpents  from  us."  2  Here  was  acknowledged  the  necessity 
of  divine  interposition  to  take  away  the  penalty  of  sin. 
God  alone  could  stay  the  judgment. 

Again,  the  brazen  serpent  was  appointed  by  God  ex- 
pressly for  a  sign  of  His  merciful  interposition.  This  was 
no  device  of  human  ingenuity ;  no  experiment  on  the 
part  of  Moses  and  the  elders  upon  the  imagination  of  the 
people;  between  this  and  the  cure  there  could  be  no 
relation  of  cause  and  effect;  simply  as  an  exhibition  or 
demonstration  it  could  have  no  efficacy ; — but  it  was 
God's  appointed  sign  of  mercy.  Here  again  Ewald  is  true 
to  the  conception  of  the  narrative :  "  Moses  by  divine 
command  fixed  a  serpent  of  brass  upon  an  elevated  banner, 
that,  gazing  on  it,  those  who  were  bitten  might  be  healed  ; 
and  this  actually  occurred.  The  meaning  of  the  story  is 
certainly  not  that  Moses  set  up  the  image  of  the  serpent  as 
an  object  of  adoration ;  it  was  obviously  only  a  sign  that, 

1  Ewald,  Hist,  of  Israel,  1,  599,  English  edition.         *  Num.  xxi.  7. 


THE   BRAZEX   SERPENT   A   TYPE    OF    MERCY.  61 

as  by  the  command  of  Jahve  this  serpent  was  waved  on 
high,  bound  and  harmless,  so  every  one  that  looked  upon 
it  with  faith  in  the  redeeming  power  of  Jahve  would  be 
preserved  from  evil.  It  was  therefore  a  symbolic  sign, 
like  that  of  St.  George  and  the  Dragon  among  ourselves, 
or  the  Serpent  itself  among  the  heathen.  As  that  creature, 
by  nature  the  most  noxious,  and  yet  supposed  capable  of 
being  tamed,  became  the  image  of  remediable  bodily  ill, 
and  consequently  the  symbol  of  iEsculapius,  so.  here  we 
have  something  of  the  same  import,  but  with  an  element 
of  reality  and  practical  necessity."  x 

But  the  point  of  supreme  moment  in  the  case  is  that 
men  looked  to  God  for  healing  mercy  through  that  sign; 
not  only  did  they  look  to  God  as  the  source  whence 
healing  must  come,  but  they  looked  through  this  par- 
ticular sign,  as  representing  the  fact  of  healing — and  none 
in  all  the  camp  were  healed  except  they  looked  upon  the 
serpent  of  brass. 

Thus  far  the  analogy  is  simple,  obvious,  perfect.  It 
was  to  counteract  an  evil  consequence  of  sin,  to  remove 
the  penalty  of  a  moral  transgression,  that  the  serpent 
was  lifted  up ;  and  it  was  for  men  perishing  in  sin  that 
the  Son  of  Man  was  lifted  up ;  for  men  condemned 
because  of  sin  that  He  came  with  that  healing  of  the  soul 
which  is  eternal  life.  The  cure  for  the  bite  of  the  serpent 
was  appointed  of  God  expressly  for  that  end ;  and  so,  in 
His  counsels  of  wisdom  and  mercy  it  was  provided  that 
the  Son  of  Man  be  lifted  up — His  crucifixion  was  ap- 
pointed for  our  salvation. 

The  case  of  the  bitten  Israelite  was  hopeless  without 
the  special  intervention  of  Jehovah ;  and  the  case  of  the 
soul  smitten  with  the  plague  of  sin,  stung  with  remorse 
of  conscience,  condemned  by  the  righteous  law,  doomed 
to  "perish"  in  its  iniquities,  were  hopeless,  had  not  God 
sent  His  Son  to  be  lifted  up  upon  the  cross. 

i  Ewald,  Hist,  of  Israel,  1,  599. 


62  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

The  brazen  serpent,  though  displayed  in  sight  of  all  the 
camp  as  the  divine  provision  of  healing,  was  made  effica- 
cious to  any  individual  sufferer  only  by  his  looking,  which 
was  the  personal  act  of  faith ;  and  even  so  the  Son  of 
Man  was  lifted  up  "that  whosoever  believeth  in  Him  should 
not  perish,  but  have  eternal  life."  *  As  deliverance  from 
the  condemnation  of  sin  was  possible  only  through  the 
love  of  God  in  giving  His  Son  to  be  crucified,  so  there  is 
no  actual  deliverance  to  any  sinner  save  through  his  own 
act  of  faith  in  the  Son  of  Man  as  lifted  up.  "  He  that 
believeth  on  Him  is  not  condemned;  but  He  that  be- 
lieveth not  is  condemned  already,  because  He  hath  not 
believed  in  the  name  of  the  only-begotten  Son  of  God." 2 

There  is  yet  another  point  in  this  analogy  that  comes, 
if  possible,  still  closer  to  the  root  both  of  the  evil  and  its 
remedy.  As  Alford  describes  it : 3  "  The  brazen  serpent 
was  made  in  the  likeness  of  the  serpents  which  had  bitten 
them.  It  represented  to  them  the  poison  which  had  gone 
through  their  frames,  and  it  was  hung  up  there,  on  the 
banner  staff  as  a  trophy,  to  show  them  that  for  the  poison 
there  was  healing, — that  the  plague  had  been  overcome. 
In  it  there  was  no  poison,  only  the  likeness  of  it.  And 
was  not  He  who  knew  no  sin  made  sin  for  us  ?  Were 
not  sin  and  Death  .and  Satan  crucified  when  He  was 
crucified  ?  "  In  a  word,  did  not  the  dying  of  the  Son  of 
Man  upon  the  cross  strike  at  the  root  of  all  human  misery, 
and  destroy  the  destroyer  ?  Nothing  less  than  this  surely 
could  He  have  meant  when  He  said,  "  My  flesh  will  I 
give  for  the  life  of  the  world;"  "The  good  shepherd 
giveth  his  life  for  the  sheep ;  " i  and  in  that  most  emphatic 
declaration,  "  The  Son  of  Man  came  not  to  be  ministered 
unto,  but  to  minister,  and  to  give  His  life  a  ransom  for 
many."  5 

1  John  iii.  15.  s  Comm.  in  loc.  5  Mark  x.  45. 

3  John  iii.  18.  A  John  vi.  51 ;  x.  11. 


RANSOM    OR    REDEMPTION.  63 

This  word  X'jzpov,  Ransom,  admits  of  no  ambiguity  :  it 
means  "  purchase-money,"  the  price  paid  for  the  release 
of  any  one  from  captivity,  from  prison,  or  from  peril. 
The  Septuagint  uses  it  for  H^  and  If 3 — compensation, 
redemption,  satisfaction  by  a  price.  Thus,  by  the  Leviti- 
cal  law,  the  owner  of  an  unruly  ox  was  responsible  in 
various  penalties  for  the  mischief  done  by  the  animal. 
When  liable  to  the  penalty  of  death,  he  might  redeem  his 
life  by  a  fine,  and  this  was  the  kuvpou ;  "  if  there  be  laid 
on  him  a  sum  of  money,  then  he  shall  give  for  the  ransom 
of  his  life  whatsoever  is  laid  upon  him."  x  A  universal 
ransom-money  was  levied  upon  the  people  to  avert  a 
judgment  from  Jehovah.  "When  thou  takest  the  sum 
of  the  children  of  Israel  after  their  number,  then  shall 
they  give  every  man  a  ransom  for  his  soul  unto  the  Lord, 
when  thou  numberest  them ;  that  there  be  no  plague 
among  them  when  thou  numberest  them."  2  This  same 
redemption-tax  is  afterward  spoken  of  as  the  "  atonement 
money."  3 

This  same  term  Ibrpov  is  employed  by  the  Septuagint 
for  the  price  of  the  redemption  of  a  slave,  and  also  of  land 
that  had  been  alienated.  "  In  all  the  land  of  your  pos- 
session ye  shall  grant  a  redemption  for  the  land."4  The 
poor  debtor  who  had  sold  himself  into  servitude  could  be 
redeemed  by  his  kinsman;  "according  unto  his  years" 
[of  the  unexpired  term  of  his  service]  shall  be  "  the  price 
of  his  redemption"  5 

On  the  other  hand,  it  was  forbidden  to  accept  a  ransom 
for  a  murderer :  "  Ye  shall  take  no  satisfaction  (Auzpov) 
for  the  life  of  a  murderer,  which  is  guilty  of  death."  6 

The  verb-form  of  the  same  word  is  used  for  redeeming 
by  a  substitute.  "  Every  firstling  of  an  ass  thou  shalt 
redeem  with  a  lamb ;  and  if  thou  wilt  not  redeem  it,  then 

1  Ex.  xxi.  30.  z  Ex.  xxx.  12.  '  v.  16. 

4  Lev.  xxv.  24.  6  Lev.  xxv.  52.        6  Num.  xxxv.  31. 


64  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHKIST. 

thou  shalt  break  his  neck  ;  and  all  the  first-born  of  man 
among  thy  children  shalt  thou  redeem."  l 

The  same  word,  chiefly  in  the  plural  form  Xuzpa,  is 
common  in  classic  Greek  in  the  sense  of  ransom — a  price 
paid  for  redemption.  Plato  uses  it  in  describing  the  rich 
presents  that  Chryses  brought  to  the  Greeks  for  the  ran- 
som of  his  daughter.2  Thucydides  speaks  of  Hippocrates, 
tyrant  of  Gela,  having  received  the  territory  of  Camarina 
as  a  ransom  for  some  Syracusan  prisoners. 3  Herodotus, 
describing  the  victory  of  the  Athenians  over  the  Chalci- 
deans  and  the  Bceotians,  says,  "  All  the  Chalcidean 
prisoners  whom  they  took  Avere  put  in  irons,  and  kept  for 
a  long  time  in  close  confinement,  as  likewise  were  the 
Boeotians,  until  the  ransom  asked  for  them  was  paid.  .  . 
The  Athenians  made  an  offering  of  a  tenth  part  of  the 
ransom-money — zcop  Xuzpcov"*  Demosthenes5  and  Xeno- 
phon6  used  Xuzpov  in  the  same  sense  of  a  price  paid 
for  a  ransom.  In  the  great  tragic  poet  iEschylus  is  a 
striking  instance  of  luzpov  in  the  sense  of  an  expiation  or 
atonement  for  murder.  The  chorus  of  mourning  women 
bewailing  the  untimely  end  of  Agamemnon,  exclaim, 
"  What  atonement  is  there  for  blood  that  has  fallen  on  the 

ground  ? 7 All  the  rivers  moving  in  one  channel 

would  flow  in  vain  to  purify  murder."  How  admirably 
comes  in  here  the  New  Testament  doctrine  of  an  expiation, 
a  ransom,  sufficient  to  atone  for  every  crime.  The  Son  of 
Man  gave  His  life  "a  ransom,  Auzpov,  for  many." 

A  ransom  from  what?  He  did  not  give  His  life  to 
deliver  the  Jewish  nation  from  the  Roman  yoke,  for  He 
was   never  concerned   in  an  insurrection,  nor  a   political 

1  Ex.  xiii.  13.     All  these  references  are  to  the  Septnngint  version. 

2  Rep.  39,  3  D.      on  ^\8ev  6  Xpvo-r)?  Tij?  Te  9vyarpo<;  Au'rpa  <£e'pwi'. 

'  Thuc.  vi.  5.  Kvrpa  avSpuiV  Supaxocricoi'  a.ixiJ.a\(oTu)v  Aa/3u>p  Tqv  yr\v  T>jr  Kajaapi- 
vaCiav. 

*  Herod  v.  77.  5  1248,  25,  1250, 1.  6  Hell.  7,  2,  16. 

'  iCsch.  CllO.  42.      ri  yap  Xvrpov  Trecrdrro;  al/ioTOs  7re5u  ,• 


CHRIST'S   DEATH   A    RANSOM    FOR   SIN.  65 

movement  of  any  sort,  and  He  was  put  to  death  at  the 
instigation  of  His  own  countrymen.  He  refused  to  place 
Himself  at  the  head  of  the  populace  when  they  sought  to 
make  Him  a  king,  and  He  declared  that  His  kingdom 
was  not  of  this  world.  It  was  not  simply  to  deliver  the 
poor  and  degraded  from  servitude,  nor  the  ignorant  and 
lowly  from  their  condition  of  debasement,  that  Jesus 
gave  His  life  a  ransom  ;  for  though  He  foresaw  that  such 
deliverances  would  result  from  His  doctrines,  the  social 
emancipation  of  the  poor  was  not  the  work  to  which  He 
devoted  His  life.  "  The  Son  of  Man  is  come  to  save  that 
which  is  lost ;  " !  and  it  was  in  fulfillment  of  that  purpose 
that  "He  gave  His  life  a  ransom  for  many."  He  might 
have  shunned  death  at  the  time  and  in  the  mode  it  came 
to  Him;  but  He  put  Himself  in  the  way  of  it,  and  against 
the  remonstrance  of  His  disciples  went  to  Jerusalem, 
knowing  what  would  there  befall  Him — not  calculating 
chances,  nor  simply  incurring  a  risk — but  deliberately 
accepting  death.  As  He  said  to  Pilate,  He  laid  down 
His  life;  He  came  to  do  this;  it  was  in  His  plan  to  die 
upon  the  cross  as  a  ransom.  He  "  must  be  lifted  up  "  in 
order  that  men  "should  not  perish,  but  have  eternal 
life :  " — to  "  perish,"  therefore,  would  be  the  opposite  of 
eternal  life — the  loss  of  that  blessedness  in  God  which  is 
the  life  of  the  soul.  From  that  destruction  Jesus  has  ran- 
somed us  by  giving  His  own  life. 

Here  then  from  the  lips  of  Christ  Himself  is  the 
doctrine  that  He  came  into  the  world  to  die  for  the  sal- 
vation of  the  world ;  and  deliverance  from  that  death 
spiritual  and  eternal  which  is  the  consequence  of  sin,  and 
the  securing  eternal  life  to  the  soul,  come  by  faith  in  the 
Son  of  Man  as  lifted  up  to  be  a  Saviour, — thus  giving 
His  life  for  the  redemption  of  mankind.  This  is  the 
Gospel  of  the   kingdom.     It  goes   through   the   plague- 

1  Matt,  xviii.  11. 
5 


66  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHKIST. 

stricken  world  crying,  O  sin-smitten  soul !  wouldst  thou  be 
healed?  look  to  Jesus  lifted  up  for  thy  salvation.  O 
tormenting  conscience !  wouldst  thou  be  stilled  ?  look  to 
Jesus  on  the  cross,  lifted  up  for  thy  healing !  O  soul 
condemned  and  dying  !  wouldst  find  again  thy  life  ?  look 
to  Jesus,  and  the  condemnation  shall  be  cancelled,  thy 
ransom  accomplished,  and  the  warrant  given  thee  of  life 
purchased  and  sealed  by  His  death.  And  whosoever 
would  not  perish,  let  him  look  to  Jesus  and  be  saved! 


CHAPTER  VI. 

SALVATION   LIMITED   ONLY   BY   UNBELIEF. 

That  the  death  of  Christ  had  a  remedial  virtue  and  in- 
tent, a  pre-ordained  and  necessary  relation  to  the  life-heal- 
ing of  the  soul ;  that  it  was  a  price  paid  for  our  redemp- 
tion, having  therefore  a  proper  vicarious  import  in  respect 
of  the  salvation  of  the  world,  has  been  established  from 
His  own  words.  As  in  a  day  of  dire  extremity  to  Israel, 
when  the  sin  of  the  people  was  visited  upon  them  by  a 
fearful  and  destructive  plague,  Moses,  by  command  of 
God,  lifted  up  the  serpent  in  the  wilderness  to  show  that 
Jehovah  was  present  as  a  Saviour  for  every  one  that  would 
look  to  Him  in  faith  ;  in  like  manner,  by  appointment  of 
God,  and  for  the  manifestation  of  His  present  grace  and 
succor,  the  Son  of  Man  was  lifted  up  to  the  hope  and  faith 
of  a  perishing  world,  "  that  whosoever  believeth  in  Him 
should  not  perish,  but  have  eternal  life."1  This  last 
declaration  announces,  by  authority  of  Christ,  the  practical 
reach  and  application  of  the  saving  benefits  of  His  death. 
And  this  was  followed  by  an  utterance,  if  possible,  still 
more  emphatic,  setting  forth  the  Salvation  as  provided  in 
the  gift  of  God,  and  as  realized  through  its  acceptance 
among  men :  "  For  God  so  loved  the  world  that  He  gave 
His  only-begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  Him 
should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life.  For  God 
sent  not  His  Son  into  the  world  to  condemn  the  world,  but 
that  the  world  through  Him  might  be  saved." 2  Here  the 
Wwsoever  points  to  an  unlimited  provision,  the  sufficiency 

i  John  iii.  15.  2  John  iii.  16,  17. 

67 


68  THE    THEOLOGY    OP    CHRIST. 

of  the  gift  of  God  for  the  whole  world  ;  but  the  Believing, 
which  is  the  necessary  and  invariable  condition,  suggests 
that  the  breadth  of  result  in  the  numbers  actually  saved 
may  not  equal  the  breadth  of  provision  for  salvation  in  the 
death  of  Jesus  upon  the  cross ;  universality  on  the  part  of 
God,  the  provider,  limitation  only  by  the  act  of  Man,  the 
receiver. 

Critical  authorities  are  pretty  evenly  divided  upon  the 
question  whether  these  words  were  a  part  of  our  Lord's 
discourse  to  Nicodemus,  or  an  explanatory  addition  by  the 
Evangelist. l  Though  the  change  to  the  past  tense 2 — 
"  God  gave  or  sent  His  Son  " — may  give  countenance  to  the 
latter  view,  there  is  here  no  sign  of  a  break  in  the  dis- 
course; and  the  statement  of  the  origin  and  extent  of  the 
redemptive  mission  of  Christ  follows  naturally  the  -declara- 
tion that  the  Son  of  Man  "  must  be  lifted  up."  The  pur- 
pose and  reach  of  the  divine  sacrifice  are  logically  con- 
nected with  the  fact  of  the  sacrifice  and  its  necessity. 
Whatever  was  the  ground  of  the  necessity  that  Jesus 
shoulddie  for  our  salvation,  His  coming  into  the  world  was 
projected  in  the  love  of  God,  for  that  very  end ;  and  that 
love  is  pictured  as  self-sacrificing,  wide-reaching,  all- 
embracing. 

But  inasmuch  as  the  present  line  of  discussion  limits  us 
to  the  very  words  of  Jesus,  even  should  this  particular 
form  of  expression  be  doubtful,  its  sentiment  is  confirmed 
by  words  of  the  same  import  that  did  certainly  fall  from 
His  lips.  "  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  He  that  hear- 
eth  my  word,  and  believeth  on  Him  that  sent  Me,  hath 
everlasting  life." 3  "  This  is  the  will  of  Him  that  sent  Me, 
that  every  one  which  seeth  the  Son,  and  believeth  on  Him, 

1  Among  recent  commentators,  Tholuck,  Olshausen  and  others  take  tho  for- 
mer view;  the   latter  is  maintained  hy  Knapp,  Meyer,  Hug,  Alford. 

2  The  Aorist  ISuke,  contemplates  the  action  in  the  mind  of  the  speaker,  as 
brought  to  pass.  3  John  v.  24. 


NO   LIMITATION   IN   THE   PLAN.  69 

may  have  everlasting  life."  l  Add  to  these  such  declara- 
tions as  the  following:  "He  that  believeth  shall  be 
saved,"  2  "  Him  that  cometh  to  Me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast 
out," 3  and  the  testimony  of  Christ  is  clear,  positive,  and 
ample  to  the  point  that  through  His  death  salvation  is 
provided  for  all  mankind. 

There  are,  however,  other  sayings  of  Christ  that  seem  in 
some  sort  to  put  a  limitation  upon  the  application  of  this 
provision  of  grace,  or  at  least  upon  its  result  in  actual  ex- 
perience. In  answer  to  the  question  "  Lord,  are  there  few 
that  be  saved  ?"  Jesus  said,  "  Strive  to  enter  in  at  the 
strait  gate ;  for  many,  I  say  unto  you,  will  seek  to  enter  in, 
and  shall  not  be  able."  4  "  Wide  is  the  gate,  and  broad  is 
the  way  that  leadeth  to  destruction,  and  many  there  be 
that  go  in  thereat ;  because  strait  is  the  gate,  and  narrow  is 
the  way  which  leadeth  unto  life,  and  few  there  be  that  find 
it" 5  Summing  up  these  several  sayings,  we  find  that  the 
doctrine  of  Christ  concerning  salvation  embraces  the  fol- 
lowing points : 

(a.)  The  fullness  and  freeness  of  the  provision  of  salva- 
tion for  all  mankind,  upon  just  and  simple  conditions. 

(b.)  That  none  do  really  come  to  Christ  for  salvation, 
except  as  they  are  influenced  from  the  Father ;  and 

(c.)  That  by  reason  of  unbelief  or  of  misdirected  en- 
deavors, many  will  really  fail  of  salvation  at  the  last. 

That  there  is  a  limitation  somewhere  upon  the  practical 
working  of  the  divine  plan  of  salvation,  or  rather  in  the 
actual  results  of  that  plan,  is  the  obvious  teaching  of 
Christ,  in  some  of  the  passages  cited  above.  But  is  this 
limitation  in  the  plan  itself?  or  does  it  in  any  way  detract 
from  the  sufficiency  of  the  atonement,  or  the  fullness  and 
freeness  of  the  offer  of  salvation  on  the  part  of  God  ?  Is 
such  an  inference  warranted  by  the  declaration  of  Christ 

i  John  vi.  40.  2  Mark  xvi.  16.  3  John  vi.  37. 

*  Luke  xiii.  24.  6  Matt.  vii.  13,  14. 


70  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

"  No  man  can  come  to  Me,  except  the  Father  which  hath 
sent  Me  draw  him."1  There  is  much  to  the  same  purport 
in  our  Lord's  discourse  recorded  in  the  sixth  chapter  of 
John : — "  All  that  the  Father  giveth  Me,  shall  come  to 
Me."  "  This  is  the  Father's  will  which  hath  sent  Me,  that 
of  all  which  He  hath  given  Me,  I  should  lose  nothing,  but 
should  raise  it  up  again  at  the  last  day." 2  If  these  words 
fairly  imply  that  God  has  made  an  arbitrary  selection  of 
the  subjects  of  Redemption,  so  that  salvation  is  provided 
for  only  a  limited  number  to  the  purposed  exclusion  of  all 
others,  then  how  can  one  fulfill  the  commission  of  Christ, 
that  authorizes  and  requires  His  disciples  to  "go  into  all  the 
world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature,"  upon  the  un- 
qualified assurance  that  "  he  that  belie veth  shall  be  saved?"  3 

The  sayings  of  Christ  touching  the  "  drawing  "  of  His 
Father,  the  "  giving  "  by  His  Father,  must  be  interpreted 
in  accordance  with  these  broad  terms  in  which  He  himself 
first  announced  the  gospel,  and  at  the  last  commissioned 
His  disciples  to  proclaim  it  to  the  world.  "  God  so  loved 
the  world  " — not  alone  the  Jewish  people,  nor  any  other 
people  of  the  world ;  not  a  certain  chosen  portion  of  human 
society ;  not  some  one  favored  age  of  the  world,  but  the 
world  of  mankind,  the  human  race  in  its  totality: — God  so 
loved  the  world,  that  He  gave  His  only  begotten  Son,  that 
whosoever  believeth — not  whoever  is  selected  and  set  apart 
from  the  rest  of  his  species,  not  those  belonging  to  a  favored 
class, — but  "whosoever  believeth  in  Him  should  not  perish." 
The  love  is  equal  toward  all ;  the  salvation  is  open  to  all 
upon  the  same  simple  and  impartial  condition ;  and  the 
result  in  each  and  every  case,  hinges  upon  the  Believing. 
This  declaration,  so  absolute  and  unequivocal,  is  borne  out 
by  the  uniform  tenor  of  the  invitations  and  commands  of  the 
gospel,  and  is  neither  contradicted  nor  qualified  by  the  state- 
ment ;  "  All  that  the  Father  giveth  Me  shall  come  to  Me." 

Who  are  the  "  All "  here  spoken  of,  but  simply 
1  John  vi.  44.  2  yy.  37.39,  s  j[ark  xvi-  16_ 


THE    COMING    IN    THROUGH    FAITH.  71 

believers  ?  The  Father  gave  to  His  Son  the  whole  world 
of  mankind  as  the  field  of  His  redemptive  work,  to  the 
intent  that  through  Him  the  world  might  be  saved ;  the 
provision,  in  its  own  nature,  renders  the  salvation  practica- 
ble for  all  and  possible  to  every  man.  But  the  very  object 
of  this  salvation,  that  which  constitutes  it  a  salvation  in 
reality,  is  deliverance  from  sin  ;  and  for  this  there  must  be 
repentance,  and  faith  in  the  Saviour  whom  God  hath  sent ; 
therefore,  it  was  not  certified  that  by  the  lifting  up  of  the 
Son  of  Man  the  whole  world  would  in  fact  be  saved ;  but 
that  there  should  be  gathered  to  Christ  a  multititude  of  be- 
lieving souls,  was  made  sure  by  the  promise  of  the  Father. 
The  discourse  recorded  in  the  sixth  chapter  of  John  was 
addressed  to  a  group  of  cavilers,  who  met  the  sayings  of 
Jesus  concerning  His  Father  with  the  demand,  "What 
sign  shewest  thou,  that  we  may  see  and  believe  Thee  ?" 

Jesus  announced  Himself  as  the  true  sign — the  bread 
of  life  come  down  from  heaven, — and  added,  "  He  that 
cometh ,  to  Me  shall  never  hunger,  and  he  that  be- 
lieveth  on  Me  shall  never  thirst."  Here  was  the  same 
breadth  of  promise  to  a  sincere  faith.  "  But,"  Pie  con- 
tinued, "  ye  also  have  seen  Me,  and  believed  not ;"  there- 
fore they  did  not  come ;  therefore  they  did  not  eat  of  the 
bread  of  life;  and  therefore,  practically,  they  were  not 
saved.  Yet  He  comforted  Himself  with  the  thought  that 
His  mission  should  not  everywhere  and  always  be  frus- 
trated by  the  unbelief  of  men.  Some  will  believe ;  many 
will  believe;  and  all  these  the  Father  has  promised  to  Him 
as  His  own ;  and  these  coming,  one  by  one,  with  the  ex- 
pression of  a  personal  faith,  would  be  thus  made  manifest 
as  of  the  All  that  are  "  given  by  the  Father."  Hence  He 
added  (v.  40),  "  This  is  the  will  of  Him  that  sent  Me,  that 
every  one  which  seeth  the  Son  and  believeth  on  Him,  may 
Jiave  everlasting  life."  The  believing  is  the  coming,  and 
the  fact  of  believing  indicates  each  as  one  of  the  grand 


72  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHEIST. 

total  given  to  Christ.  Hence  the  statement  in  v.  44  does 
not  teach  that  God  has  made  an  arbitrary  selection  of  cer- 
tain persons  to  be  saved,  aricl  given  these  to  Christ,  but 
that  He  has  given  to  Christ  all  who  believe,  that  these  may- 
be His  peculiar  people — and  the  believing  is  open  to  all. 
The  giving  is  not  for  the  purpose  of  excluding  any,  but  of 
making  sure  the  fruits  of  redemption  j  not  for  narrowing 
the  basis,  but  for  securing  a  result  upon  the  basis  and  by 
means  of  it. 

What,  then,  is  meant  by  that  "  drawing  "  of  the  Father, 
without  which  Jesus  declared  that  no  man  can  come  to 
Him  ?  This  also  is  interpreted  by  the  act  of  faith,  as  He 
described  it  at  the  conclusion  of  this  same  discourse,  (verses 
64,  65.)  Having  defined  the  spiritual  significance  of  par- 
taking of  His  own  flesh  and  blood,  and  the  consequent 
need  of  a  spiritual  frame  of  mind  in  order  to  receive  that 
"  hard  saying,"  He  charged  some  of  His  own  disciples  with 
the  want  of  this  sincere  spiritual  faith  : — "  For  Jesus  knew 
from  the  beginning  who  they  were  that  believed  not,  and 
who  should  betray  Him.  And  He  said,  Therefore, 
said  I  unto  you,  that  no  man  can  come  unto  Me  except  it 
were  given  unto  him  of  my  Father  j" — which  is  neither 
more  nor  less  than  the  doctrine  "  that  which  is  born  of  the 
Spirit  is- spirit,"  and  therefore  must  every  one  be  born  of 
the  Spirit,  regenerated  -by  a  divine  illumination.  This, 
then,  is  the  drawing  of  the  Father — a  gracious  influence 
quickening  the  soul,  and  persuading  it  to  believe. 

Can  any  honest  interpretation  derive  from  this  the 
notion  of  an  arbitrary  selection  on  the  part  of  God,  limit- 
ing the  design  and  the  application  of  the  death  of  His  Son, 
selecting  some  and  excluding  others  as  the  heirs  of  life,  by 
a  bare  determination  of  His  own  will  ? 

None,  indeed,  come  to  Christ,  except  the  Father  draw 
them  ;  but  how  many  does  the  Father  draw,  who  yet  refuse 
to  come  !     For  what  is  the  manner  and  the  purpose  of  this 


THE   COMING   A   FREE   ACT  OF   WILL.  73 

drawing?  And  whence  arises  the  necessity  that  the 
Father  should  draw  men  to  Christ  ?  Our  Lord  has  given 
the  answer  in  that  sentence  of  condemnation  which  lies 
against  the  unbelieving  world  of  to-day  as  justly  and 
forcibly  as  against  the  Jews  who  rejected  Him  to  His  face: 
"  Ye  will  not  come  to  Me,  that  ye  might  have  life." l 
The  coming  is  believing  ;  it  is  repenting,  turning,  trusting ; 
and  this  is  an  act  of  will.  The  will  of  the  man  himself 
must  move,  if  ever  he  shall  come  to  Christ,  and  if  his  will 
does  not  move  spontaneously,  cordially,  to  accept  Christ 
when  offered  as  a  Saviour,  then  nothing  further  can  be 
done  for  his  salvation  except  to  draw  him  by  some  influ- 
ence directed  to  incite  the  will.  Coercion  is  impossible, 
for  the  will  cannot  be  forced ; — to  force  it  by  sheer  power 
were  to  destroy  its  very  nature  as  the  choosing,  willing 
faculty  of  the  soul.  Hardly  can  the  will  be  reasoned  with ; 
for  the  fault  commonly  does  not  lie  with  the  understanding 
and  the  judgment,  but  in  the  choice  being  fixed  already 
upon  the  wrong — "  Light  has  come  into  the  world ;"  the 
truth  is  clear  enough,  the  way  is  plain  enough,  the  light 
is  sufficient  for  the  understanding  and  the  conscience  ;  but 
"  men  love  darkness  rather  than  light  because  their  deeds  are 
evil.  For  every  one  that  doeth  evil  hatcth  the  light ;  neither 
cometh  to  the  light,  lest  his  deeds  should  be  reproved." 2 

In  this  state  of  facts — the  salvation  provided  for  all  and 
freely  offered  to  all ;  this  salvation  rendered  availing  as  a  de- 
liverance from  sin  only  through  a  personal  repentance  and 
faith  ;  this  again  requiring  a  free  act  of  will,  and  yet  the 
will  halting,  not  accepting,  not  moving  toward  acceptance, 
not  "  coming  " — the  only  thing  that  can  be  done  further  is 
to  influence  the  will  by  some  power  of  persuasion  that 
shall  incite  it  to  right  action.  That  influence  is  what  our 
Lord  has  described  as  the  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
upon  the  mind — no  more  to  be  defined  than  the  coming 

»  John  v.  40.  2  John  iii.  19,  20. 


74  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

and  going  of  the  wind,  yet  stirring  the  soul  to  its  depths, 
"convincing  it  of  sin,  of  righteousnesss,  and  of  judgment," 
and  so  arousing  and  drawing  it  that  the  will  does  move, 
does  choose,  does  decide,  does  come.  Yet  not  always  ! 
— for  the  will  is  an  agent  of  such  fearful,  such  stubborn 
power,  that  it  may  even  resist  the  Holy  Ghost,  resist  the 
drawing  of  the  Father,  as  it  does  resist  the  invitations  of 
the  Son.  Hence  while  it  is  true  that  all  who  come  to 
Christ  are  drawn  of  the  Father,  it  is  still  time  that  others 
perish,  not  because  they  are  hindered  or  neglected  of  God, 
nor  because  they  are  not  solicited  by  the  Gospel  and 
wrought  upon  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  but  because  they  will 
not  come. 

The  argument  leads  to  this  conclusion;  that  the  draw- 
ing of  the  soul  to  Christ  by  a  special  influence  from  the 
Father,  is  directed  solely  to  this  end — to  overcome  the 
reluctance,  the  indifference,  or  (to  put  it  in  the  strongest 
terms)  the  inertness  and  stagnation  of  the  human  will ; 
that  the  necessity  for  this  divine  influence  in  regeneration 
does  not  arise  from  any  limitation  in  the  normal  powers 
of  the  human  soul,  nor  any  limitation  in  the  provision  of 
salvation  through  Christ,  nor  any  limitation  nor  discrimi- 
nation in  the  love*  of  God  in  planning  for  the  salvation 
of  lost  men ; — in  a  word,  this  "  drawing"  of  the  Father 
does  not  proceed  upon  the  basis  of  limitation  or  restriction, 
in  the  provision  of  redemption  or  in  the  desire  of  God  for 
the  recovery  of  sinners ;  it  cannot  create,  it  does  not  imply 
a  hindrance  to  the  salvation  of  any,  nor  the  rejection  ox 
any,  but  is  the  reaching  forth  of  the  same  love  and  mercy 
that  provided  the  redemption,  to  make  sure,  by  all  means, 
of  some  actual  fruit.  There  is  nothing  in  any  act  or  pur- 
pose of  God  that  limits  salvation  in  respect  either  of  its 
adequacy  as  a  provision  or  its  amplitude  as  an  offer : 
neither  has  God  imposed  upon  any  mind  any  kind  or  de- 
gree of  restraint  in  respect  to  its  accepting  the  salvation 


man's  will  alone  hinders  salvation.        75 

provided  by  Christ,  and  profiting  to  the  full  by  its  benefits. 
When  He  commands  all  men  to  repent,  He  does  not  com- 
mand an  impossibility :  when  He  requires  them  to  believe 
upon  Christ,  He  means  that  every  man  should  believe ; 
when  He  promises  salvation  upon  these  simple  and  uni- 
form terms,  there  are  no  drawbacks  nor  exceptions  what- 
ever.1 

And  yet  the  final  results  of  Redemption  will  not  be 
commensurate  with  the  provision.  The  whole  world  might 
be  saved,  but  alas,  not  all  the  world  will  be  saved !  Jesus 
Christ,  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  has  pictured  the  dread 
and  final  separation  of  mankind  into  two  classes  at  the  last 
judgment,  and  has  declared  that  the  wicked  "shall  go  away 
into  everlasting  punishment,  but  the  righteous  into  life 
eternal."  2 

Here  is  a  limitation  in  the  actual  results  of  salvation  : — 
but  whence  does  this  arise  ?  What  is  the  turning-point, 
the  dividing  line?  Does  Christ  Himself  desire  to  save 
only  one-tenth  of  the  human  race  ?  or  one-fourth  ?  or  one- 
half?     Did  He  not  die  for  all  ?     Has  not  He  invited  all  ? 

Whence  comes  the  difference?  We  are  brought  back 
for  an  answer  to  that  pivot  of  human  character,  the  will, 
as  the  turning-point  of  destiny.  It  is  just  the  question  of 
believing  or  not  believing.  Believing  on  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  as  the  Saviour  from  sin  is  the  beginning  of  that  new 
life  which  is  salvation.  Without  this  free  committal  of 
his  soul  to  Christ  one  cannot  so  much  as  start  in  the  new 
life ;  and  therefore,  if  the  man  himself,  under  the  light  of 
the  gospel,  the  invitations  of  Christ,  the  drawing  of  the 
Father,  does  not  turn  and  believe,  his  deliverance  from  sin 
is  an  impossibility.  This  is  no  arbitrary  ruling  of  the 
Creator ;  it  is  the  law  under  which  the  soul  exists  by  the 

1  For  a  full  discussion  of  the  relations  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  human  volition 
■ee  the  author's  volume  on  "  the  Holy  Comforter." 
JMatt.  xxv.  46. 


76  THE  THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

necessity  of  its  moral  constitution.  It  is  not  that  God 
created  any  soul  with  the  intent  that  it  should  perish ;  nor 
that  He  either  dooms  or  leaves  any  to  perish  by  limiting 
or  withholding  on  His  part  the  provision  of  salvation; 
for  "  God  sent  not  His  Son  into  the  world  to  condemn  the 
world,  but  that  the  world  through  Him  might  be  saved." 
Why  then  is  not  the  whole  world  ipso  facto  saved  ?  How 
comes  it  that  any  are  condemned  ?  The  evangelist  has 
answered  this  question  in  terms  which,  if  they  be  not  the 
very  words  of  Christ,  are  the  logical  complement  to  His 
own  statement  of  the  condition  of  salvation  :  "He  that  be- 
lieveth  on  Him  is  not  condemned ;  but  he  that  believeth 
not  is  condemned  already,  because  he  hath  not  believed  in 
the  name  of  the  only-begotten  Son  of  God."  i  His  non-ac- 
ceptance of  the  only  possible  deliverance  from  sin  leaves 
him  to  the  consequences  of  sin,  in  condemnation  and  death. 
The  requirement  of  faith  as  a  condition  of  salvation  is 
not  arbitrary,  but  is  necessary  upon  the  highest  moral 
grounds.  One  cannot  be  saved  except  through  being  freed 
from  sin;  and  he  cannot  be  freed  from  sin  except  by 
repenting,  and  by  forsaking  sin  through  that  divine 
help  which  is  brought  him  in  the  cross  of  Christ  and 
by  the  coming  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Believing  on 
Christ  is  a  condition  with  which  every  one  can  comply ; 
it  is  a  just,  necessary,  and  simple  requirement,  compliance 
with  which  is  salvation  and  life  in  the  very  act ;  the  one 
sole  limitation  upon  the  final  results  of  Christ's  redeeming 
sacrifice  arises  from  the  unbelief  of  men,  which  even  the 
drawing  of  the  Father  often  fails  to  overcome.  We 
come  back,  therefore,  to  the  doctrine  of  a  full  and  free  sal- 
vation as  declared  by  Christ  without  limitation — no  limi- 
tation on  the  part  of  God,  neither  in  the  magnitude  of  the 
provision  itself,  nor  in  the  scope  of  the  offer  of  salvation, 
nor  in  the  intent  with  which  that  offer  is  made :  no  limi- 


FULNESS   AND    FREEXESS   OF   THE  SALVATION.        77 

tation  upon  the  result  save  what  the  will  of  man  imposes, 
through  unbelief.  It  is  a  full  salvation,  adequate  to  the 
wants  of  the  whole  world ;  it  is  a  free  salvation,  offered 
equally  and  impartially  to  whoever  will  accept  it. 

The  gift  of  God  proclaims  this.  "  God  so  loved  the 
world  that  He  gave  His  only-begotten  Son  : " — that  single 
fact  carries  with  it  the  whole  argument.  He  who  sends 
his  only  son  to  fight  for  his  country  could  add  nothing  to 
that  proof  of  his  devotion  to  the  country  in  all  its  interests 
— to  its  material  prosperity,  to  its  moral  unity,  to  its  gov- 
ernment and  laws,  to  the  whole  nation.  The  sending  is 
the  final  argument;  and  when  He  who  sends  is  the 
Almighty  Father,  whose  one  only  Son  represents  the  in- 
finitude of  His  love,  and  that  sending  is  grounded  in  His 
love  and  pity  for  the  world,  that  fact  alone  determines  the 
conclusion  that  He  would  have  all  men  to  be  saved. 

The  sacrifice  itself  proclaims  this;  necessary  in  all  its 
fulness  for  one,  adequate  in  its  oneness  for  all.  It  was 
not  against  sins  numerically  that  Christ  testified  by  His 
cross,  nor  was  it  a  certain  form  or  number  of  transgres- 
sions that  called  for  His  mediation ;  but  it  was  Sin  that 
He  testified  against  as  treason  to  the  government  of  God, 
and  that  required  an  expiation  which  by  its  virtue  in  re- 
deeming one  could  equally  avail  for  all. 

The  word  of  Christ  proclaims  this  universal  sufficiency 
of  His  sacrifice  both  in  scope  and  in  availability  :  "  Him 
that  cometh  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out"1 — "that  the 
world  through  Him  might  be  saved."  2 

The  testimony  of  myriads  confirms  this  declaration.  In 
all  the  ages  since,  whosoever  has  applied  by  faith  for  this 
salvation  has  found  that  it  awaited  him  upon  his  simply 
coming,  and  that  it  sufficed  for  his  personal  necessity  as  if 
provided  for  him  alone ;  nor  has  any  one  ever  failed  of 
salvation  wTho  would  only  believe. 

i  John  vi.  37.  2  John  iii.  17. 


78  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

He,  therefore,  who  refuses  to  come  to  Christ,  does  all 
that  lies  in  his  power  to  hinder  the  consummation  of  the 
world's  deliverance.  A  universal  deliverance  from  sin, 
a  universal  consecration  to  a  holy  life  in  God,  would 
render  this  world  as  pure  and  blessed  as  heaven;  but 
every  man  that  will  not  come  to  Christ  for  personal  de- 
liverance from  sin,  so  far  as  in  him  lies,  delays  and  frus- 
trates that  blessed  consummation.  The  angels  ushering 
in  the  Son  of  Man  sang,  "  Peace  on  earth,  good-will 
toward  men ; "  but  unbelief  breaks  in  upon  that  song  with 
the  discord  and  strife  of  sin. 

He  that  refuses  to  believe  in  Christ  sets  himself  against 
all  the  forces  of  love  in  the  universe  that  are  seeking  his 
good.  God  the  Father  has  bent  upon  him  His  infinite 
compassion ;  the  Son  of  God  has  given  for  him  His  life 
upon  the  cross;  the  Holy  Spirit  has  convinced;  admonished, 
entreated,  drawn  him;  heaven  and  its  holy  inhabitants 
have  sought  to  ivelcome  him  to  their  joys ;  but  all  this 
potency  of  love  fails  to  save  him  because  of  his  unbelief! 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  NATURE  OF  RELIGION. 

Religion  in  its  broad  acceptation — the  obligation  of 
the  Soul  toward  God,  as  the  object  of  worship  and  obedi- 
ence— is  the  subject  of  supreme  moment  to  mankind,  and 
that  upon  which  in  all  ages  mankind  have  bestowed  their 
chiefest  care  and  thought.  "  Man  is  born  with  two  needs, 
at  once  distinct  and  inseparable,  the  moral  and  the  re- 
ligious instinct.  Free,  he  yet  feels  that  there  exists  a  law 
which  should  regulate  his  will.  Capable  of  intelligence 
and  of  love,  his  mind  and  his  heart  require  an  infinite  ob- 
ject. Every  man  possesses  the  instinct  of  the  Good,  and 
the  instinct  of  the  Infinite,  in  a  word,  the  instinct  of  the 
Divine.  He  who  can  live  without  faith  in  the  Divine,  or 
who  has  smothered  that  sublime  faith  within  him,  does 
not  belong  to  humanity."  l  Y/hcre  this  instinct  has  de- 
veloped itself  normally,  the  outward  manifestation  of 
Religion  has  taken  almost  as  many  varieties  as  there  are 
differences  of  race,  in  mental  characteristics,  in  domestic 
habits,  and  in  social  and  civil  customs.  And  so  compre- 
hensive is  the  obligation  of  the  religious  feeling,  that  it 
takes  as  many  types  as  there  are  faculties  and  sentiments 
of  the  soul,  and  modes  of  moral  expression  and  action — 
now  the  Reason  giving  to  Religion  ks  particular  cast;  now 
the  Imagination ;  now  the  Senses  and  now  the  Tastes ; 
now  the  beautiful  in  Nature,  now  the  hopeful  in  Fancy, 
the  pleasurable  in  Feeling;  and  now  the  gloomy,  the 
grotesque,  the  horrible ; — yet   these   diversified   and    even 

1  Emilc  Saisset.     Essais  sur  la  Philosophic  et  la  Religion  an  xix.  Steele,  p.  287. 

79 


80  THE   THEOLOGY    OF   CHRIST. 

contradictory  manifestations  of  the  religious  idea  or  the 
religious  feeling,  are,  for  the  most  £>art;  but  exaggerations 
of  some  one  element  or  feature  which  the  religious  idea 
properly  includes,  or  which  has  a  real  basis  in  the  reli- 
gious feeling. 

Difficult  as  it  is  to  discriminate  each  and  every  phase  of 
Religion  by  a  note  or  sign  peculiar  to  itself,  we  may  dis- 
tribute the  various  types  of  Religion  that  have  been  de- 
veloped among  mankind  apart  from  Christianity,  into  five 
general  classes ; — (a)  the  intellectual  or  speculative  ;  (6)  the 
formal  or  ceremonial;  (c)  the  humanitaiy,  or  religions  of 
good  works )  (d)  the  imaginative,  or  religions  of  supersti- 
tion ;  (e)  and  the  spiritual  or  pietistic,  in  which  the  medi- 
tative and  emotional  piety  of  the  inner  life  is  exalted  above 
all  modes  of  intellectual  statement,  all  outward  forms  of 
worship,  all  practical  works  of  beneficence. 

In  the  time  of  Christ,  these  leading  types  of  Religion 
had  all  found  expression  in  the  world's  history.  Plato 
had  elaborated  his  monotheistic  conception  of  God  as  the 
all-comprehensive  Idea ;  while  at  the  same  time  he  had 
exalted  Virtue,  Truth,  and  Beauty  into  a  sort  of  intel- 
lectual Triad — a  Trinity  not  of  hypostases  but  of  pre- 
dicates— allegiance  to  which  was  the  very  essence  of 
morality.  With  him  Religion  is  the  realization  of  the 
idea  of  the  good,  through  the  Reason  bringing  all  the 
principles  and  actions  of  the  soul  into  a  perfect  unison,  and 
so  to  an  intellectual  harmony  with  God.  The  highest 
virtue  is  wisdom  or  absolute  knowledge ;  yet  he  said  of 
God,  "  It  is  hard  to  investigate  and  find  the  Framer  and 
Father  of  the  universe  ;  and  if  one  did  find  him,  it  were 
impossible  to  express  him  in  terms  comprehensible  by 
all."  x 

Aristotle,  who  lacked  the  mystic,  poetic  temperament  of 
his  great  master,  by  the   severity  of  his  critical   method 

1  Tim.  p.  23. 


ARISTOTLE    A2s'D    HIS   SCHOOL.  81 

reduced  the  Deity  to  pure  Intelligence,  absorbed  in  self- 
contemplation,  subject  and  object  in  one,  the  final  cause 
of  the  world, 1  as  the  end  of  all  its  aspirations.  To  this 
almost  impersonal,  self-quiescent,  incorporeal  substance, 
Aristotle  ascribed  neither  creative  power  nor  moral 
quality.  With  his  disciples,  Aristotle's  conception  of  a 
self-immanent  Intelligence,  dissociated  from  the  world, 
degenerated  into  bald  materialism,  under  the  two-fold 
form  of  Atheism  and  Pantheism ;  and  so  the  Divinity  that 
to  Plato  was  the  highest  intellectual  conception,  through 
being  contemplated  solely  with  relation  to  the  intellectual 
system  of  the  universe,  was  either  retired  to  an  infinite 
distance  and  a  state  of  absolute  repose,  or  reduced  to  a 
mere  potency  or  energy  in  the  kingdom  of  Nature. 
Religion  as  pure  intellectuality  reached  its  highest  de- 
velopment in  Plato,  only  to  be  marred  and  materialized 
when  handled  by  minds  less  delicate  and  pure  than  his 
own. 

The  boast  of  modern  Rationalism  that  in  matters  of 
belief  it  has  emancipated  the  human  intellect  by  admitting 
only  that  which  is  originated  or  established  by  Reason 
itself,  may  well  be  confronted  with  the  fact  that  the  highest 
product  of  Reason  in  the  sphere  of  Religion  was  wrought 
out,  and  had  well-nigh  run  out,  before  Christ  came,  and 
can  be  compared  impartially  with  His  teachings.  It 
pushed  one  factor  in  Religion  to  an  extreme  that  well-nigh 
destroyed  the  thing;  for  Religion  and  God  as  its  object 
were  reasoned  into  nothingness. 

While  certain  philosophers  had  thus  refined  Religion 
into  a  speculative  nonentity,  the  actual  religions  of  the 
pagan  world  at  the  time  of  Christ  were  full  of  superstition 

1  His  thinking  is  upon  Thought;  i<mv  ^  votjo-i?  voijo-ews  yorjaris  (Metaphys. 
xi.  ix.  4)  and  since  He  is  the  highest  and  best.  His  thinking  is  upon  Himself. 
He  moves  the  world  not  by  an  energy  proceeding  from  Himself,  but  by  the 
attraction  that  is  in  Himself,  the  power  of  the  Beautiful  or  the  Good.  (De 
Coel).  ii.  10-12. 


82  THE   THEOLOGY    OF    CHRIST. 

and  sensuality — appealing  to  the  Imagination  by  mystery, 
by  the  fascinations  of  pleasure  and  the  torments  of  pain,  and 
addressing  the  senses  through  forms  of  beauty,  as  in  Greece, 
or  by  objects  of  terror,  as  in  Egypt, *  and  in  the  remoter 
East. 

The  three  remaining  types  of  Religion  were  fully  illus- 
trated among  the  Jews  of  the  time  of  Christ.  Some  made 
the  virtue  of  religion  consist  in  the  close  adherence  to 
forms.  To  pay  tithes  of  all  that  they  possessed,  even  of 
the  farthing  herbs  in  their  gardens,  to  fast  twice  in  the 
week,  to  be  careful  even  to  scrupulosity  in  keeping  the 
Sabbath,  to  offer  all  the  sacrifices  and  observe  all  the 
sacred  days  prescribed  by  the  law — such  rigid  Formalism 
constituted  their  religion.  Others  laid  stress  upon  their 
good  works;  giving  alms  before  men,  and  counting  their 
charities  for  piety.  And  there  were  various  sects  of  Jews — 
such  as  the  Essenes  and  Therapeutse — who  formed  them- 
selves into  communities  or  brotherhoods,  like  later  orders  of 
monks,  for  cultivating  piety  by  seclusion  from  the  world, 
rigorous  self-denial,  and  devout  secret  meditation. 

Thus  all  the  leading  forms  under  which  the  religious 
idea  or  the  religious  feeling  has  found  expression  in  the 
history  of  mankind,  were  in  full  development  before  the 
time  of  Christ.  And  these  characteristic  types,  the  specula- 
tive, the  ceremonial,  the  superstitious,  the  humanitary,  the 
pietistic  have  continued  to  reproduce  themselves  in  new 
countries  and  among  new  peoples,  and  have  even  attempted 
to  run  Christianity  itself  into  their  several  modes.  Yet 
the  Religion  of  Christ,  Religion  as  taught  by  Him  in  its 
principles  and  exemplified  by  Him  in  its  spirit,  is  some- 
thing apart  from  each  and  every  one  of  these  religious 
types, — sublime  in  its  simplicity,  profound  in  its  origin, 

1  Some  of  the  Egyptian  divinities  were  spiritual  in  their  nature  and 
beneficent  in  their  attributes;  but  others  were  grossly  animal  in  their  aspect, 
or  formidable,  with  the  flail  and  scourge;  and  the  Egyptian  Hades  was  a 
region  of  darkness  and  horrors. 


RELIGION   SEATED    IN    THE    HEART.  83 

springing  from  the  inmost  depths  of  the  soul,  and  universal 
in  its  reach  and  application.  From  His  teachings  one 
obtains  quite  another  view  of  religion,  in  its  nature,  its 
spirit,  and  its  power. 

First  of  all,  Christ  referred  true  religion  to  the  heart  as 
the  seat  of  its  vitality.  If  we  inquire  after  the  nature  of 
Religion  as  Jesus  presented  it,  we  find  that  it  was  not  a 
something  which  a  man  took  upon  him  from  without — a 
set  of  opinions  that  he  espoused,  a  set  of  customs  that  he 
adopted,  a  set  of  regulations  that  he  conformed  to;  nor 
was  it  a  something  which  a  man  performed  outside  of 
himself— a  round  of  ceremonies  that  he  fulfilled,  a  course 
of  devotions  or  of  charities  that  he  went  through  with : 
but  while  it  covered  all  these — beliefs,  devotions,  ob- 
servances, charities, — and  used  them  all  as  evidences  of  its 
presence,  Religion  itself  as  to  its  essence,  was  within  the 
soul,  and  proceeded  thence  to  the  outer  life. 

This  fundamental  conception  of  religion  Christ  presented 
under  a  variety  of  aspects.  In  the  sermon  on  the  mount, 
he  traced  sin  to  the  inmost  recesses  of  the  heart.  Murder 
is  being  angry  with  a  brother  without  cause;  adultery 
is  the  unchaste  look,  imagination,  desire ;  swearing  is  the 
profane  thought,  the  irreverent  feeling  ;  and  so  every  sin  is 
traced  to  the  heart,  and  if  a  sinful  act  is  conceived  and 
purposed  in  the  heart  the  man  is  guilty,  even  though  he 
does  not  commit  the  act  in  its  outward  form.  "  A  corrupt 
tree  bringeth  forth  evil  fruit ;" l  and  "  an  evil  man,  out  of 
the  evil  treasure  of  his  heart,  bringeth  forth  that  which  is 
evil." 2  Hence  Religion,  which  is  to  rectify  the  mischief 
of  sin,  must  dispossess  sin  of  the  heart,  and  install  itself 
there,  at  the  centre  of  the  moral  life.  The  process  by 
which  this  is  effected  is  an  interior  spiritual  work ;— re- 
pentance is  a  sorrow  of  the  heart,  and  a  turning  of  the  will 
away  from  the  sin ;  to  be  "born  again,"  is  to  be  inwardly 

»Matt.  vii.    17.  ^Lukevi.   45. 


84  THE   THEOLOGY    OF    CHRIST. 

renewed,  so  changed  in  heart  as  to  be  a  new  man  in  respect 
of  spiritual  things ;  to  believe  upon  Christ  is  for  the  heart 
to  trust  iiself  to  Him  ;  "  Blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit/' — 
they  that  are  humble  and  broken  in  heart — "  for  theirs  is 
the  kingdom  of  heaven."  And  as  with  the  beginning  of 
religious  experience,  so  of  its  consummation  :  it  is  through- 
out a  spiritual  work ;  the  process  of  renovation  and  sancti- 
ncation,  in  the  perfecting  of  the  religious  life,  is  to  go  on 
within  the  soul.  "  Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart" — those 
made  inwardly  and  spiritually  pure — "  for  they  shall  see 
God."1 

Nor  is  it  in  essence  alone  that  Religion  is  thus  intensely 
spiritual  and  inward ; — religious  acts,  to  have  reality  and 
value,  must  proceed  from  the  heart,  and  fairly  represent 
its  spiritual  frames.  "  When  thou  doest  thine  alms  do 
not  sound  a  trumpet  before  thee,  as  the  hypocrites  do,  in 
the  synagogues,  and  in  the  streets,  that  they  may  have 
glory  of  men ;  but  when  thou  doest  alms,  let  not  thy  left 
hand  know  what  thy  right  hand  doeth,  that  thine  alms 
may  be  in  secret."  2  In  deeds  of  charity,  one  must  not 
court  the  observation  and  applause  of  men,  but  act  from 
pure,  unselfish  motives,  as  under  the  eye  of  his  Father, 
which  seeth  in  secret. 

Like  precepts  are  laid  down  concerning  prayer.  One 
must  not  be  ostentatious-  in  his  personal  devotions  : — 
'•When  thou  prayest,  enter  into  thy  closet,  and  when  thou 
hast  shut  thy  door,  pray  to  thy  Father,  which  is  in  secret."  3 
Prayer  is  the  communion  of  the  heart  with  God.  It  does 
not  consist  of  Avords ;  much  less  is  it  to  be  valued  by  the 
multitude  of  words.4  In  Thibet,  the  Buddhists  make  use 
of  a  prayer-cylinder,  in  which  yards  of  petitions,  written 
upon  narrow  strips  of  paper,  are  wound  like  ribbon  around 
a  wire  that  passes  through  the  centre,  and  each  revolution 
of  the  cylinder  upon  this  axis  counts  for  a  repetition  of  all 
1  Matt.  v.   3,  9.  2  Matt.  vi.    1-4.  3  Matt.  vi.   6.       i  Matt.  vi.    7. 


MECHANICAL    PRAYING.  85 

prayers ;  so  that  one  needs  only  to  keep  twirling  his 
cylinder  at  intervals,  and  he  will  secure  the  benefit  of 
whole  hours,  and  even  miles  of  prayer !  Some  economize 
time  by  setting  the  cylinder  at  work  by  water-power,  or 
other  mechanical  contrivance,  while  their  hands  and  feet 
are  busy  in  other  matters.  And  this  tendency  to  me- 
chanicizing  prayers  is  always  found  where  the  efficacy  of 
prayer  is  sought  in  the  opus  operatum.  But  the  doctrine 
of  Christ  drives  one  back  from  all  modes  and  forms,  from 
the  surroundings  and  accessories  of  devotion,  into  the  cita- 
del of  the  soul,  to  find  if  he  there  possesses  true  religion. 
The  alms,  the  prayers,  the  offices  of  charity  and  devotion, 
that  are  turned  out  upon  dress  parade,  give  no  evidence  of 
true  loyalty  to  God,  or  of  real  strength  in  religious  charac- 
ter. This  must  be  found  within  where  it  exists  at  all,  and 
when  prayers  and  almsgiving  take  a  public  form,  pub- 
licity must  never  be  the  end  in  view.  As  a  matter  of  con- 
sciousness, or  of  self-congratulation,  the  left  hand  must  not 
know  what  the  right  hand  doeth ; *  yet  he  who  has  this  in- 
ner spirit  of  devotion  toward  God  and  beneficence  toward 
man,  is  commanded  to  let  his  light  so  shine  before  men 
that  they  may  see  his  good  works,  and  glorify  his  Father, 
which  is  in  heaven. 2 

Christ  declared  that  no  amount  of  praying  and  prophe- 
sying in  His  name,  nor  the  multitude  of  wonderful  and 
practically  useful  works  done  in  Plis  name,  will  avail  to 
certify  one  as  His  disciple,  nor  commend  him  to  favor  at 
the  judgment,  where  the  inward  spirit  of  love  and  devotion 
is  wanting.3  Tims  by  every  form  of  presentation,  for  the 
essence  of  Religion  He  sends  us  back  to  the  inmost  centre 
of  the  soul.  Religion  is,  first  of  all,  a  thing  of  the  heart, 
internal  and  spiritual — "  a  good  man,  out  of  the  good  trea- 
sure of  his  heart,  bringeth  forth  that  which  is  good." 

What  then  is  this  good  treasure  of  the  heart — this  inner 

»  Matt.  vi.  3.        2  Matt.  v.  16.        3  Matt.  vii.  22.  23. 


86  THE   THEOLOGY    OF    CHRIST. 

essence  of  Religion  ?  Is  the  heart  mere  feeling — the  seat 
of  emotion  only  ?  Modern  physiology  so  distinguishes  it 
from  the  brain  as  the  seat  of  thought ;  but  in  the  language 
of  the  Hebrews  the  heart  was  also  the  seat  of  intelligence 
and  of  the  moral  faculties  and  affections  ;  a  man  thought 
in  his  heart, 1  he  purposed  in  his  heart ; 2  he  turned  his 
heart  this  way  and  that ; 3  and  so  the  Understanding  and 
the  Will,  as  well  as  susceptibilities  and  emotions,  were  com- 
prised in  the  heart ;  this  was  the  center  of  self-determina- 
tion, and  hence  of  moral  character  and  spiritual  life.  In 
the  same  sense  the  heart  was  spoken  of  by  Christ  as  em- 
bodying all  the  constituents  of  moral  life  ;  and  therefore, 
the  Religion  that  is  in  and  of  the  heart  must  be  conceived 
of  as  a  matter  of  intelligent  principle,  of  voluntary  de- 
termination, and  of  devout  feeling.  These  together  con- 
stitute the  heart — the  moral  substance  of  the  man — an- 
swering to  the  stock  and  sap  of  the  tree.  An  analysis  of 
His  teaching  on  this  point  gives  the  following  results : 

True  Religion  is  an  inward  principle  of  holy  living, 
through  consecration  to  a  holy  God.  This  was  the  root- 
idea  of  the  law  given  at  Sinai,  underlying  each  particular 
precept ;  for  the  commandments  that  refer  to  specific  out- 
ward actions — enjoining  particular  duties  and  forbidding 
particular  sins — are-  all  founded  in  and  governed  by  the 
preamble  "  I  am  the  Lord  thy  God,"  and  the  first  declara- 
tion "  Thou  shalt  have  no  other  gods  before  Me."  The 
acknowledgment  of  this  one  only  God — the  Lord  Jehovah, 
the  living  one,  thy  God — the  personal  Spirit  who  is  the 
Creator  and  Lord  of  the  human  spirit,  who  has  a  right  of 
possession  in  every  living  soul,  and  who  only  should  be 
confessed  as  God  and  Lord  ;  who  is  set  forth  as  the  maker 
of  heaven  and  earth,  and  the  giver  of  the  earth  to  man  for 
his  abode ;  who  is  a  holy  and  jealous  God,  visiting  ini- 

1  Is.  x.  7  ;  1  Chron.  xxix.  18  ;  Is.  xxxii.  4  ;  Gen.  xvii.  1-17;  Job  xii.  3. 
2  1  Sam.  xir.  7  ;  Is.  x.  7  ;  lxiii.   4.     3  Job   xv.  12  :  Is.  xliv.  20. 


THE   OLD    TESTAMENT    RELIGION    SPIRITUAL.  87 

quity,  yet  multiplying  mercies  to  them  that  love  Him,  a 
God  whose  very  name  must  be  had  in  reverence  and  never 
lightly  spoken — the  acknowledgment  of  this  one  spiritual, 
holy,  supreme  Lord,  allegiance  to  His  majesty,  obedience 
to  His  authority  as  holy,  just  and  true — this  principle  lay 
at  the  foundation  of  the  decalogue,  and  of  the  whole 
system  of  religion  set  forth  in  the  Old  Testament.  The 
Eternal,  Almighty  Holy  Spirit,  the  Creator  and  Lord  of 
all,  is  here  set  before  man  not  simply  as  an  object  of  con- 
templation, to  be  admired  as  the  highest  conception  of  the 
Divinity  that  the  intellect  can  attain  to — but  as  having 
direct  personal  relations  with  the  human  spirit  as  His  own 
image,  as  having  a  claim  upon  mankind  severally  for  wor- 
ship and  allegiance,  and  as  seeking  to  draw  each  indivi- 
dual soul  into  the  conscious,  loving,  faithful  relationship 
of  a  child  of  God.  To  recognize  this  spiritual  and  Holy 
Being  not  simply  as  existing  but  existing  in  that  relation, 
to  acknowledge  His  rightful  authority,  to  accept  His  law, 
and  to  devote  the  soul  to  Him  in  a  holy,  loving  obedience 
— this  inner  principle  of  serving  God  is  the  sum  and  sub- 
stance of  the  Decalogue,  and  of  the  Religion  of  the  Old 
Testament.  All  offerings  and  sacrifices,  all  prayers  and 
alms,  all  Sabbaths  and  ceremonies  were  worse  than  worth- 
less without  this. 

This  fundamental  principle  of  the  Jewish  theocracy  had 
become  well  nigh  obsolete  under  the  mass  of  forms  and 
traditions  that  men  had  heaped  upon  it;  but  Christ  restored 
this  as  the  first  commandment  in  the  code  of  the  kingdom 
of  God  as  His  spiritual  commonwealth.  He  did  not  abro- 
gate nor  in  any  wise  modify  this  original  conception  of 
Religion.  To  suppose  that  Christ  relaxed  the  obligation 
of  this  principle  of  spiritual  consecration  in  favor  of  some 
easier,  lower  type  of  piety  expressed  through  faith  as  mere 
feeling,  is  a  spiritual  conceit  and  doctrinal  error  of  most 
dangerous  tendency.     In  the  Christian  system  faith  does 


88  THE   THEOLOGY    OF    CHRIST. 

not  displace  nor  qualify  the  principle  of  holy  obedience  ;  it 
encourages  us  to  trust  in  Christ  for  the  forgiveness  of  sins, 
thus  atoning  for  our  lack  of  obedience  in  the  past,  and  to 
look  to  Christ  for  help  in  obedience  for  the  future.  Perfect 
faith  will  conduce  to  perfect  obedience ;  for  the  rule  and 
standard  of  Religion  as  presented  in  the  words  of  Jesus,  is 
identical  with  that  which  underlies  the  Decalogue — an 
inward  principle  of  holy  living  through  consecration  to 
the  will  of  a  holy  God. 

This  was  His  own  rule  of  life  as  the  perfect  man  :  "  I 
seek  not  Mine  own  will,  but  the  will  of  the  Father  which 
hath  sent  Me."  1  "  I  came  down  from  heaven,  not  to  do 
Mine  own  will,  but  the  will  of  Him  that  sent  Me."  2  "  My,, 
meat  is  to  do  the  will  of  Him  that  sent  Me,  and  to  finish 
His  work." 3  This  was  the  deep,  constant,  controlling 
principle  in  the  active  obedience  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  on 
the  side  of  passive  obedience  it  was  the  same  :  "  Not  My 
will  but  Thine  be  done."  And  though  He  covers  our 
disobedience  by  His  righteousness,  and  takes  away  our 
sins  by  His  cross,  and  offers  to  our  weakness  the  helping- 
hand  of  faith,  He  accords  to  His  disciples  no  lower  type 
of  Religion  than  that  which  He  illustrated,  no  lower  rule 
of  life  than  that  which  He  observed.  Nay  rather  did  He 
put  new  life  and  emphasis  into  the  fundamental  principle 
of  the  decalogue  as  the  law  of  His  own  kingdom :  for  He 
compressed  the  ten  commandments  into  that  one  rule  of 
holy  obedience  and  consecration,  and  crowded  this  home 
upon  the  heart,  saying  :  "  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy 
God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all 
thy  mind."  4  We  cannot  go  deeper  than  this  for  a  founda- 
tion of  Religion,  we  cannot  rise  higher  than  this  for  a 
standard  of  life,  we  can  have  nothing  broader,  fuller,  more 
complete  and  final  as  a  spirit  of  consecration.  It  is  the 
most  spiritual  conception  of  Religion  that  the  philosopher 

l  Matt.  xxii.  37.         2  John  vi.  38.         s  John  iv.  3i.  «  Matt.  xxii.  37. 


RELIGION    THE    ABIDING    CHOICE    OF    GOD.  89 

can  form,  and  at  the  same  time  the  most  simple  and  practi- 
cal rule  of  piety  that  can  be  given  to  a  child.  This  princi- 
ple settled  within  the  sonl  as  the  one  aim  and  law  of  its 
life  is  the  "  good  treasure  of  the  heart/'  out  of  which  all 
good  things  are  brought  forth. 

This  principle  supposes  the  free,  intelligent  choice  of 
God  and  His  service  as  the  soul's  supreme  delight:  its 
choice  as  an  abiding  state  of  preference,  in  distinction 
from  particular  acts  of  volition,  yet  including  these  and 
imparting  to  them  a  decisive  character  as  acts  of  holy  love. 

Where  true  Religion  is,  there  the  soul  has  elected  God 
as  its  supreme  good ;  has  accepted  God  as  its  ideal  of  ex- 
cellence ;  has  enthroned  God  as  the  Sovereign  of  its  acts, 
its  thoughts,  and  its  desires ;  and  it  abides  in  this  its 
supreme  choice  as  its  satisfying  rest  and  portion.  As  a 
state  of  preference  this  is  the  permanent  choice  of  the  soul, 
that  underlies,  and  with  more  or  less  of  conscious  de- 
termination influences,  all  the  choices  and  actions  of  the 
mind,  and  so  gives  character  to  the  whole  man. 

This  elective  principle  carries  along  with  it  the  feelings 
of  the  heart.  It  is  not  a  dry  intellectual  state,  though  it 
may  seem  dry  when  analyzed  for  purposes  of  definition ; 
neither  is  it  a  cold,  stiff  purpose  of  the  will,  though  its 
value  and  durability  as  a  principle  require  that  it  shall 
take  the  form  of  fixed  rigid  resolution  ;  but  feeling  enters 
into  the  choice,  animates  the  purpose,  keeps  the  resolution 
all  aglow.  For  the  choice  which  the  soul  makes  in  Re- 
ligion is  not  simply  a  choice  of  opinions,  nor  a  choice  of 
systems,  nor  a  choice  of  ends  personal  to  itself,  but  the 
choice  of  au  object  of  affection,  even  of  its  highest  love : 
the  choice  is  itself  affection  going  forth  in  the  act  of  will, 
as  the  dominant  love  of  the  heart.  Not  duty,  nor  fear  as 
toward  God  in  His  Majesty,  nor  simply  approbation  in  the 
contemplation  of  the  divine  excellence ;  but  love  it  is  that 
inspires  the  deep  principle,  the  fixed  purpose  of  the  soul  to 


90  THE    THEOLOGY    OF    CHRIST. 

serve  and  honor  God  in  holy  living.  Thus  Religion  ab- 
sorbs all  the  powers  and  affections  of  the  soul. 

But  that  which  gains  this  complete  possession  of  the 
man  spiritually  also  controls  him  practically.  This  deep 
inward  principle,  this  sublime  spiritual  conception,  this 
supreme  absorbing  purpose,  this  one  dominant  engrossing 
affection,  is  also  a  life-power.  The  soul  does  not  shut 
itself  up  within  itself,  as  in  a  temple,  to  worship  the  Un- 
seen, the  Absolute,  and  keep  its  Religion  as  a  thing  sepa- 
rate and  sacred  from  the  life  ;  but  that  which  is  rooted  so 
deep  within  and  nourished  with  such  warmth  of  love, 
blossoms  forth  upon  the  world,  sheds  abroad  its  fragrance, 
and  drops  upon  every  side  its  golden  fruit.  The  good 
tree,  by  the  law  of  its  nature — all  the  forces  of  its  consti- 
tution and  its  life  conjoining — brings  forth  good  fruit;  and 
so  the  good  man,  out  of  the  good  treasure  of  his  heart, 
bringeth  forth  good  things ;  and  as  the  quality  of  the  fruit 
speaks  for  the  tree,  so  the  good  deeds  testify  of  the  char- 
acter.    "  By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them."  l 

This  doctrine  of  good  fruits  does  not  at  all  conflict  with 
Christ's  condemnation  of  ostentation  in  religion,  in  Matt. 
vi.  1-7.  What  He  there  objected  to  was  not  the  bare 
publicity  of  the  act,  but  publicity  as  a  motive  to  the  act ; — 
praying  "  to  be  seen  of  men,"  giving  alms  "  to  be  seen  of 
men  " — performing  the  most  sacred  duties  in  a  way  to  at- 
tract attention,  personating  piety  with  a  view  to  get  a  re- 
putation for  piety — this  it  was  that  Jesus  condemned. 
But  the  opposite  of  religious  ostentation  is  not  hiding  one's 
light  under  a  bushel,  concealing  religious  principle  and 
feeling  so  as  not  even  to  be  suspected  of  it,  avoiding  reli- 
gious conversation  and  whatever  might  bring  the  repute 
of  godliness.  The  command  of  Christ  to  His  disciples  is  ; 
"  Let  your  light  so  shine  before  men,  that  they  may  see 
your   good  works,  and  glorify  your  Father  which  is  in 

l  Matt.  vii.  16. 


RELIGION   TESTED    BY    ITS    FRUITS.  91 

heaven."  The  shining  is  the  beauty  of  a  translucent  char- 
acter :  the  light  shines  through  because  it  is  within ;  and 
it  shines  simply  because  it  is  there.  It  is  not  a  calcium 
light  hung  out  now  and  then  to  dazzle  passers  by — but 
pure  sunlight,  which  shines  because  it  is.  The  religious 
principle  being  seated  within,  and  having  control  of  the 
understanding,  the  will,  and  the  affections,  is  the  life  of 
the  whole  man.  The  tree  being  of  good  stock,  sound, 
healthy,  and  well-nourished  with  sap,  brings  forth  good 
fruit ;  and  the  true  Religion  is  known,  not  by  the  profes- 
sions it  makes,  nor  the  forms  it  adopts,  but  by  the  influ- 
ence it  has  upon  the  spirit  and  conduct  of  the  man,  upon 
his  habits  and  actions,  and  by  the  positively  good  things 
that  he  does,  under  its  living  inspiration,  as  naturally  and 
as  regularly  as  the  tree  brings  forth  fruit — "  his  own 
fruit,"  the  fruit  natural  and  proper  to  itself.  "  The  good 
man  out  of  the  good  treasure  of  his  heart  bringeth  forth 
that  which  is  good." 

The  test  that  Christ  applied  to  the  religious  professions 
of  individuals,  may  be  applied  with  equal  fairness  to  his 
own  system  of  Religion : — this  also  may  be  tested  by  its 
fruits.  We  have  seen  how,  under  the  power  of  the  reli- 
gious idea  and  the  impulse  of  religious  feeling,  mankkid 
distorted  and  exaggerated  particular  elements  and  features 
of  Religion,  and  produced  a  cold  intellectual  abstraction, 
an  ideal  worship  of  fancy  or  taste,  a  pretentious  self-right- 
eous charity,  an  elaborate  and  cumbersome  ritualism,  a  mon- 
strosity of  the  imagination  and  the  senses,  a  monastic  and 
ascetic  pietism ;  and  how  utterly  human  wisdom  failed  of 
realizing  to  itself  the  conception  of  a  spiritual  and  holy 
God,  and  a  spiritual  and  holy  consecration,  so  as  to  render 
this  a  controlling  power  in  the  life.  But  Religion  as  in- 
terpreted by  Christ  fills  the  highest  reach  of  Reason  in  re- 
spect of  the  nature  of  God  ;  strips  Imagination  of  uncouth 
images  and  morbid  fears,  and  adorns  it  with  new  beauties 


92  THE  THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

and  glories  in  the  realm  of  the  spiritual ;  purifies  the  Af~ 
fections,  consecrates  the  Will ;  puts  soul  and  unction  into 
every  Form  of  worship,  puts  life  and  love  into  every 
Charity ;  makes  the  whole  man,  body,  soul,  and  spirit,  a 
consecrated  vessel  of  the  divine  grace,  a  consecrated  dwell- 
ing of  the  divine  Spirit,  a  consecrated  channel  of  the 
divine  will ;  and  this  by  bringing  the  man  into  such  near 
and  loving  relations  with  God,  that  this  limited,  depend- 
ent, and  imperfect  human  spirit  is  in  accord  with  that 
infinite,  absolute,  and  perfect  Spirit  who  fills  immensity 
with  His  presence,  and  makes  heaven  glorious  and  blessed 
with  His  holy  love.  The  Religion  that  so  leads  man  up 
to  God,  and  so  brings  God  into  fellowship  with  man,  must 
have  come  down  from  heaven.  By  its  fruits  we  know  it 
to  be  divine. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE   SPIRITUALITY   OF    WORSHIP. 

From  the  interior  essence  of  religion  as  a  life  we  pass  to 
its  outward  expression  in  acts  of  reverence  toward  God. 
Christ  laid  down  a  formula  of  worship  based  upon  the  true 
conception  of  the  divine  being : — "  The  hour  cometh,  and 
now  is,  when  the  true  worshipers  shall  worship  the  Father 
in  spirit  and  in  truth ;  for  the  Father  seeketh  such  to  wor- 
ship Him.  God  is  a  spirit ;  and  they  that  would  worship 
Him  must  worship  Him  in  spirit  and  in  truth." *  It  is  an 
axiom  of  the  Christian  faith  that  the  mode  of  worship 
must  correspond  with  the  essence  of  God,  which  is  spiritual, 
and  the  feeling  of  the  worshiper  must  correspond  with  the 
character  of  God,  which  is  paternal.  What  that  essential 
nature  of  God  is  which  is  declared  by  the  term  spirit,  must 
be  defined  largely  by  negatives.  A  spirit  is  not  physical, 
not  corporeal,  not  tangible,  not  visible,  as  these  properties 
are  attributed  to  forms  of  matter ;  nevertheless,  we  conceive 
of  a  spirit  as  a  living  substance,  and  as  possessing  both  in- 
telligence and  personality.  The  term  Tzveu/m  was  applied 
to  the  Father  by  Christ  in  the  most  absolute  sense.  The 
Septuagint  had  made  this  word  familiar  to  Jewish  readers 
as  descriptive  of  the  Spirit  of  God  acting  in  creation  and 
prophecy.  But  Jesus  said  God  is  spirit,  pure  spirit,  thus 
defining  His  essence  in  respect  of  its  immateriality;  and  the 
argument  is,  "  God  being  pure  spirit  cannot  dwell  in  parti- 
cular spots  or  temples  ;  cannot  require,  nor  be  pleased  with, 
earthly  material  offering,  nor  ceremonies  as  such;  on  the 

i  John  iv.  23,  24. 

93 


94  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

other  hand,  is  only  to  be  approached  in  that  part  of  our 
being  which  is  spirit, — and  even  there,  inasmuch  as  He  is 
pure  and  holy,  with  no  by-ends  nor  hypocritical  regards, 
but  in  truth  and  earnestness."  l  In  the  ever-memorable 
words  of  Augustine,  "  If  thou  wouldst  pray  in  the  temple 
pray  within  thyself:  but  first  be  thou  the  temple  of 
God."2 

God  is  spirit.  Jesus  announced  this  sublimest  concep- 
tion of  the  nature  of  God,  without  defining  it;  announced 
it  to  a  plain  woman  without  simplifying  it  to  her  compre- 
hension ;  left  it  to  go  upon  record  without  solving  the  mys- 
tery that  it  contains.  Yet  as  He  was  stating  the  funda- 
mental principle  of  religious  worship,  to  govern  His  fol- 
lowers for  all  time,  it  is  fair  to  assume  that  He  used  the 
term  spirit  in  a  sense  sufficiently  intelligible  to  His  hearers 
for  the  practical  application  of  His  rule.  He  would 
hardly  have  laid  down  for  universal  guidance  in  a  matter 
of  universal  obligation,  a  proposition  that  could  not  be 
translated  into  the  common  ideas  of  men. 

Our  notion  of  spirit  arises  from  our  consciousness  of 
understanding,  of  personality,  and  of  power — conceptions 
that  we  attach  to  the  Ego,  the  conscious  self,  in  distinction 
from  the  material  body  with  which  this  is  invested.  The 
Jewish  scriptures  had  made  familiar  to  the  common  mind 
this  conception  of  spirit  as  an  immaterial  substance,  pos- 
sessing consciousness,  understanding,  personality,  will, 
energy — for  they  ascribe  to  the  nueufxa  all  spiritual  func- 
tions, and  distinguish  it  alike  from  the  body,  and  from  the 
soul,  the  animating  principle  of  the  body.  It  is  the  spirit 
in  man  that  has  understanding,  that  is  capable  of  moral 
affections,  that  is  the  image  of  God,  the  inspiration  of  the 
Almighty,  and  this  shall  return  unto  the  God  who  gave  it, 

i  Alford  on  John  iv.  23. 
8  In  templo  vis  orare,  in  tc  ora.     Sed  prius  esto  templum  Dei,  quia  ille  in 
templo  euo  exaudiet  orantem. 


SPIRIT    REPRESENTS    PERSONALITY.  95 

when  the  dust  shall  return  to  the  earth  as  it  was. l  The 
same  scriptures  speak  likewise  of  spirits  as  existing  in  a 
higher  condition  than  man,  and  possessing  higher  capaci- 
ties than  are  given  to  man  in  his  present  state.  These  are 
incorporeal,  so  far  as  cognizance  of  the  senses  goes ;  yet 
they  are  described  under  human  modes  of  conception,  as 
possessing  powers  of  vision,  of  motion,  and  of  action,  vastly 
superior  to  any  attainable  by  man.  This  idea  of  a  spirit 
as  a  higher  order  of  being  was  common  among  the  Jews  in 
the  time  of  Christ.  Philo  believed  in  good  and  evil 
angels,  and  that  these  were  identical  in  substance  with  the 
souls  of  men,  though  disconnected  from  bodies. 2  Jesus  re- 
cognized the  common  belief  in  an  order  of  spirits,  when  He 
said  to  His  disciples  after  his  crucifixion, — "  A  spirit  hath 
not  flesh  and  bones  as  ye  see  me  have." 3 

In  declaring  that  God  was  pure  spirit  Christ  gave  no 
countenance  to  the  pantheistic  notion  of  the  divinity  as 
diffused  in  space  or  as  the  soul  of  the  universe.  On  the 
contrary,  He  at  the  same  time  defined  both  the  individual- 
ity and  the  personality  of  God,  in  the  formula  of  worship ; 
— "  they  that  worship  Him."  This  infinite  Spirit  is  to  be 
approached  by  the  human  spirit,  as  a  personal  Intelligence. 
Moreover  the  name  Father  ascribes  to  God  relations  and 
affections  such  as  pertain  only  to  personality. 

Because  God  is  spirit  men  must  worship  Him,  and  not 
any  material  representation  of  Him ;  must  worship  Him, 
sand  not  any  place  where  He  is  supposed  to  be ;  and  they 
must  not  even  worship  Him  in  any  one  place  alone,  as  if 
He  were  embodied  or  contained  in  that  place,  or  were  to  be 
found  only  there.  This  was  the  point  of  His  reply  to  the 
woman  of  Samaria ;— "  The  hour  cometh,  when  ye  shall 
neither  in  this  mountain,  nor  yet  at  Jerusalem,  worship 
the  Father :"  4 — then    true  worshipers  will  not  resort  to 

1  Ec.  xii.  7.  B  Philo  Judaeus  on  the  Giants. 

V  '  Luke  xxiv.  39.  *  John  iy.  21. 


96  THE    THEOLOGY    OF    CHRIST. 

either  with  the  feeling  that  the  place  gives  validity  or 
sanctity  to  the  act  of  worship.  This  did  not  imply  that 
there  had  been  no  sincere,  real  worship  at  Jerusalem  or 
Gerizim ;  for  the  contrast  was  not  so  much  between  the 
true  and  the  false,  as  between  the  perfect  ideal  and  a 
shadowy  approximation.  By  the  true  worshipers  are  in- 
tended not  only  such  as  worship  in  sincerity  of  spirit,  but 
those  that  worship  according  to  the  true  and  perfect  ideal. 
"  The  worship  of  God  in  its  highest  conception,  is  that 
which  is  most  homogeneous  with  the  divine  nature.  Now 
God  is  spirit,  and  as  such,  elevated  above  space  and  time  ; 
hence,  the  devotion  which  is  in  spirit,  uttering  itself  in- 
dependently of  time  and  place,  never  ceasing,  subject  to  no 
external  conditions,  carried  on  in  the  inner  sanctuary  of 
man,  constitutes  the  only  worship  which  corresponds  to 
its  ideal."  x 

But  was  this  saying  of  Christ  concerning  worship  in 
the  spirit  intended  to  disparage  outward  worship,  and  to 
foreshadow  its  abolition  under  a  higher  purer  conception  of 
Religion  ?  The  whole  tenor  of  His  life  and  doctrine  for- 
bids such  an  inference.  Jesus  Himself  prayed  openly  and 
audibly  in  the  presence  of  His  disciples.  The  prayer  re- 
corded at  length  in  the  seventeenth  chapter  of  John's 
gospel  was  an  act  of  worship,  and  was  rendered  not  in  ac- 
cordance with  any  Jewish  form,  but  by  Jesus  as  the 
founder  of  the  new  dispensation  about  to  be  committed  to 
His  disciples.  He  also  taught  His  disciples  to  pray,  and 
how  to  pray ;  and  the  brief  form  of  prayer  that  He  gave 
to  them  was  adapted  to  be  used  in  a  collective  act  of  wor- 
ship :  "  Our  Father :  give  us  our  daily  bread."  And 
moreover  Christ  gave  the  assurance  of  a  special  blessing  to 
those  who  should  unite  in  worship,  and  meet  for  that  pur- 
pose in  His  name :  "  If  two  of  you  shall  agree  on  earth  as 
touching  any  thing  that  they  shall  ask,  it  shall  be  done  for 

1  Olsliausen,  Cemm.  in  loc. 


THE   USES   OF   OUTWARD   WORSHIP.  97 

them  of  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven :  for  where  two  or 
three  are  gathered  together  in  my  Name,  there  am  I  in 
the  midst  of  them."  1  He  also  distinctly  contemplated 
and  provided  for  the  association  of  His  disciples  as  a 
Church,  for  worship  and  communion,  and  ordained  sacra- 
ments to  be  therein  observed.  After  His  resurrection,  He 
met  with  His  disciples  in  what  appears  to  have  been  a 
stated  assembly  for  religious  worship  upon  the  first  day 
of  the  week. 

If  outward  worship  is  made  an  end  in  itself,  if  all 
thought  and  care  are  concentrated  upon  the  manner  of  the 
outward  act,  with  the  feeling  that  when  this  is  regularly 
performed  the  worship  is  accomplished — this  is  wholly  at 
variance  with  Christ's  doctrine  of  true  spiritual  worship. 

If  again,  the  outward  worship  is  regarded  as  a  means  to 
an  end,  if  by  the  law  of  association,  and  by  the  suggestion 
of  spiritual  truth  through  appropriate  symbols,  it  serves  to 
educate  the  mind  in  religious  thought  and  feeling — as  was 
the  design  of  the  Jewish  ritual — these  ends  are  legitimate 
and  valuable,  though  such  a  conception  of  worship  falls 
below  the  ideal  enunciated  by  Christ. 

In  its  highest  and  best  relations,  outward  worship  is  the 
expression  and  exponent  of  the  inward  frame  and  feeling 
of  the  worshiper.  The  feeling  of  devotion  gives  to  worship 
an  unlimited  universality  of  utterance,  and  renders  natural 
and  fit  the  outward  form. 

This  feeling  should  lead  one  to  approach  God  as  a 
Father.  This  name  presents  to  the  heart  the  moral  and 
sympathetic  aspect  of  the  divine  Being,  as  the  term  spirit 
presents  to  the  understanding  the  conception  of  His  essential 
nature.  This  Spirit,  though  infinite  in  His  own  nature,  is 
not  at  an  infinite  remove  from  us  in  space  nor  in  feeling, 
but  is  a  loving  Father,  who  thinks  upon  us,  cares  for  us, 
and  seeks  us,  desiring  the  communion  of  our  spirits  with 

i  Matt,  xviii.  19. 


98  THE    THEOLOGY    OF   CHRIST. 

Himself.     This  enunciation  meets  the  longing  of  the  more 
devout  and  spiritual  minds  of  pagan   antiquity   for  a  near 
and  conscious  intercourse  with  God.     Said  Dio  Chrysostom, 
"There  exists  in  all  men  an  eager  longing  to   adore   and 
worship  the  gods  as   nigh.     For  as   children,  torn   from 
father  and  mother,  feel  a  powerful  and  affectionate  longing, 
often  stretch  out  their  hands  after  their  absent  parents,  and 
often  dream  of  them;  so  the  man  who  heartily  loves  the 
gods  for  their  benevolence  towards  us  and  their  relationship 
with  us,  desires  to  be  continually  near  them  and  to  have 
intercourse  with  them ;  so  that  many  barbarians,  ignorant 
of  the  arts,  have  called  the  very  mountains  and  trees  gods, 
that  they  might  recognize  them  as  nearer  to  themselves."  1 
But  Christ  would  bring  God  nearer  than  the  mountain, 
nearer  than  the  temple,  in  the  spiritual,  living,  reciprocal 
intercourse   of  the  father  and  the  child.     In  its  longing 
to  localize   the   Deity,  Paganism  materialized  Him — first 
personifying  the  powers  and  effects  of  nature  as  representa- 
tives of  the  Divinity,  and  finally  transferring  to  these  its 
whole  conception  of  God.     There  is  the  same  tendency  in 
the  materialistic  Pantheism  of  modern  times — to  resolve 
the  Divinity  into  a  law,  a  force,  a  principle,  an  essence,  or 
at  best  a  soul  resident  in  nature;  but  this  while  bringing 
God   nigh,  in  a  sense,  yet  takes   away  the   value   of  the 
nearness   by   robbing   Him   of  personality,  which   alone 
renders  worship  reasonable  and  communion  possible.     True 
worship  must  be   founded   upon   the  spirituality  of  God. 
"His  being  a  spirit  declares  what  He  is;  his  other  perfec- 
tions declare  what  kind  of  spirit  He  is.     All  God's  perfec- 
tions suppose  Him  a  spirit:  all  center  in  this:  His  wisdom 
does  not  suppose  Him  merciful,  or  His  mercy  suppose  Him 
omniscient;  there  may  be  distinct  notions  of  those  attributes, 
but  .all  suppose  Him  to  be  of  a  spiritual  nature.     If  we  do 
not  render  to  God  that  spiritual  worship  which  corresponds 

1  Dio  Chrysost.  Orationea,  xii. 


THE   WORSHIP    OF   SPIRIT    TO   SPIRIT.  99 

to  His  own  nature,  a  statue  upon  a  tomb  with  eyes  and 
hands  lifted  up,  offers  as  good  and  true  a  service  as  we."  'L 

In  its  conception  of  worship  as  a  spiritual  act  addressed 
to  a  spiritual  being,  Christianity  puts  into  a  simple  and 
universal  formula  the  deepest  conclusions  of  philosophy. 
It  assumes  the  great  truth  embodied  in  the  organization  of 
matter  under  existing  forms  of  order  and  beauty,  and  in 
the  arrangement  of  diverse  and  conflicting  physical  laws  to 
effect  one  common  purpose — that  a  supreme  intelligence,  a 
spiritual  power,  gave  to  the  universe  its  existence  and  its 
laws.  What  natural  theology  thus  argues,  Christ  declared 
as  a  first  axiom  of  religion ; — God  is  Spirit.  Whence  it 
follows,  since  God  is  the  Creator  of  the  Universe,  it  is  ab- 
surd to  suppose  that  His  own  essence  can  be  bounded  by  a 
temple,  or  ministered  unto  by  material  offerings;  and  since 
God  is  the  Father  of  all  existing  intelligences,  it  is  absurd 
to  represent  Him  by  any  material  image,  or  to  worship  Him 
in  any  other  way  than  by  an  intelligent  homage,  obedience 
and  love.  "  They  that  worship  Him  must  worship  Him 
in  spirit  and  in  truth." 

The  nature  of  man  requires  this  spiritual  homage  to  the 
Father  of  spirits.  Keason  and  self-respect  demand  that  man, 
who  is  essentially  a  spiritual  and  not  an  animal  being, 
shall  recognize  the  spirituality  of  his  Creator,  and  worship 
God  with  his  rational  and  voluntary  powers. 

He  degrades  himself  when  he  represents  his  Creator  by 
anything  lower  in  the  scale  of  existence  than  his  own  soul, 
or  renders  to  God  a  mere  service  of  form.  Worship  is  the 
homage,  the  adoration,  the  reverent  and  loving  devotion  of 
man  as  a  free  spiritual  intelligence  toward  God  as  the 
Father  of  Spirits,  infinite  in  His  nature  and  perfect  in  His 
holiness.  Such  worship  recognizes  God's  absolute  inde- 
pendence, His  rightful  sovereignty,  His  glorious  moral 
perfection ;  and  is  rendered  by  one  spiritual  nature  unto 

1  Charnock  on  the  Divine  Attributes. 


100  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

another  spiritual  nature  that  infinitely  transcends  it  in 
power  and  majesty,  that  infinitely  excels  it  in  purity  and 
virtue.  Not  hands  but  hearts  must  worship  God ;  not 
wood  and  stone  but  living  souls  must  furnish  His  abode. 
This  doctrine,  however,  must  be  taken  in  connection  with 
the  doctrine  of  the  new  birth  which  underlies  the  whole 
conception  of  the  kingdom  of  God  ;  for  "  man  is  not  born 
as  a  temple  of  God,  nor  can  he  make  himself  one,  but  can 
only  be  restored  to  that  eminence  by  the  Spirit,  whom  the 
Son  of  God  communicates  to  his  soul."  1 

The  formula  of  Jesus  touching  worship  is  a  distinct  pro- 
test against  Ritualism  as  claiming  to  represent  the  Chris- 
tian idea  of  worship.  I  would  not  question  the  sincerity 
of  a  worship  rendered  through  elaborate  forms;  but  the 
Ritual  does  not  constitute  either  Christianity  or  worship, 
and  the  bowings  and  genuflexions,  the  attitudes  and  cross- 
ings, the  vestments  and  candles,  are  not  properly  Christian 
worship.  True  worship  may  use  forms  for  its  expression, 
and  indeed  will  naturally  appropriate  forms  of  some  kind  as 
its  language ;  but  by  just  as  much  as  the  place  and  the 
form  of  worship  come  to  be  looked  upon  as  essential  to  the 
genuineness  and  acceptableness  of  the  worship,  by  so  much 
does  the  form  overlay  and  hinder  the  free  action  of  the 
soul  toward  God.  If  the  form  of  worship  appeals  to  the 
senses  more  powerfully  than  the  truth  itself  appeals  to  the 
soul,  if  the  studied  artistic  effect  of  the  worship  diverts  the 
feeling  from  spiritual  emotion  to  aesthetic  sentiment,  then  is 
the  form  set  above  the  spirit,  and  there  is  danger  that  the 
living  essence  of  worship  will  be  wanting.  The  eye  may 
be  charmed  with  the  architecture  of  the  cathedral,  the  ear 
entranced  with  the  music  of  the  organ  and  the  choir,  the 
very  soul  suffused  with  the  perfume  of  incense,  and  yet 
while  every  sense  is  thus  wrapped  in  the  outward  similitude 
of  worship,  there  may  be  no  true  spirit  of  worship  in  the 

1  Nean  Jer. 


SPIRITUALITY    NOT    SENTIMENTALISE.  101 

heart.  And  if  once  the  mind  is  imbued  with  the  notion 
that  salvation  depends  upon  the  place  or  the  form  of  wor- 
ship, it  will  exaggerate  the  most  insignificant  incident  of 
that  form  into  an  essential  of  its  own  life. 

But  on  the  other  hand  the  spirituality  of  worship  must 
be  distinguished  from  mere  sentimentality  in  religion. 
The  poetry  of  Byron  abounds  in  apostrophes  to  nature  in 
the  vein  of  worship.  Novelists  of  the  worst  school  of 
French  license,  will  pause  in  a  tale  of  infamy  to  utter 
some  pious  feeling  touching  the  stars,  the  trees,  the 
flowers ;  to  invoke  the  sea,  the  breeze,  the  mountain,  the 
cloud,  the  moon — Nature  in  whole  or  in  detail — as  the 
personification  of  the  religious  sentiment;  and  after  this 
ebullition  of  devotion,  will  proceed  to  deform  virtue  and 
to  glorify  vice.  Confucius  teaches  that  by  meditating  in 
the  seclusion  of  the  mountains  and  water-falls,  man  re- 
turns to  the  primitive  goodness  of  his  nature ;  and  thus  the 
magnificent  growths  of  the  forests  and  the  delicate  beauties 
of  the  garden  and  field  become  moral  tonics  to  the  soul. 
Now  no  moralist  has  excelled  Christ  in  lessons  of  wisdom 
derived  from  nature,  and  no  poet  has  surpassed  Him  in 
delicacy  of  perception  for  the  beauty  of  flowers,  the  waters, 
the  sky,  and  for  the  traits  and  habits  of  sentient  creatures : 
and  therefore  it  is  foreign  to  the  genius  of  Christianity  to 
disparage  a  taste  for  the  beautiful  in  the  physical  creation, 
or  to  undervalue  this  as  tributary  to  the  religious  senti- 
ment. But  that  enthusiasm  for  nature  which  never  speaks 
the  name  of  God,  which  expends  itself  upon  effects  without 
thought  of  the  First  Cause  of  all,  which  even  substitutes 
an  effect  for  the  cause  as  an  object  of  religious  emotion,  has 
no  one  element  in  common  with  the  spiritual  devotion 
that  Christ  declared  to  be  the  only  true  worship.  It  is  at 
best  but  a  more  refined  idolatry,  reproducing  in  the 
mysticism  of  the  pantheist  and  the  dream-talk  of  the  poet, 
the  homage  of  the  ancient  Greek  and  Roman,  or  of  the 


102  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

modern  Hindoo  and  Chinaman  to  material  forms  as  repre- 
senting some  beneficent  property  or  power  in  nature. 

The*  spirituality  of  worship  set  forth  by  Christ  is  a 
feature  of  His  religion  that  adapts  it  for  universal  diffu- 
sion. Like  the  light  Christianity  can  go  anywhere ;  like 
the  air  men  need  only  to  breathe  it.  Its  worship  requires 
but  these  two  factors : — a  spiritual  and  holy  God  revealed 
as  a  loving  Father,  and  an  humble,  loving,  trusting  mind, 
that  looks  up  to  Him  in  reverence  and  obedience.  The 
Jew  coming  like  Simeon  in  faith  and  holy  expectation,  to 
sacrifice  amid  the  splendor  of  the  temple  and  the  pomp  of 
its  ritual ;  the  Gentile  who,  like  the  devout  Cornelius, 
amid  the  distractions  of  military  life,  without  temple  or 
altar,  yet  feared  God  with  all  his  house  and  prayed  to 
Hini  always ;  the  prisoner  Paul  in  the  guard-room  of 
Nero's  palace;  the  exile  John  in  the  rocky  solitudes  of 
Patmos  ;  the  missionary  apostle,  a  solitary  witness  for  the 
living  God  in  face  of  the  temples,  shrines  and  divinities 
of  Athens  ;  the  throng  gathered  at  Troas  to  hear  his  fare- 
well words,  and  break  the  bread  of  Christian  fellowship  ; 
the  martyrs  who  entered  the  arena  to  be  devoured  of  wild 
beasts,  praying  as  they  went ;  the  saints  who  hid  them- 
selves in  the  catacombs  of  Pome  and  worshiped  by  the 
light  of  the  sacred  lamp ;  Luther,  in  his  monk-cell  crying 
to  God  from  the  depths  of  an  awakened  spirit ;  Tauler,  in 
the  grand  cathedral  of  Strasbourg,  in  the  midst  of  altars, 
pictures,  images,  incense,  and  the  pomp  of  a  corrupted 
worship,  proclaiming  the  true  light,  love,  and  joy  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  within  the  soul ;  the  Waldenses  in  the  fast- 
nesses of  Piedmont ;  the  Huguenots  in  the  caves  of  the 
Pyrenees :  the  Covenanters  on  the  lonely  heath  or  the 
dreary  shore ;  the  Pilgrims  on  the  houseless  island,  keep- 
ing the  Sabbath  in  snow  and  sleet;  these  all,  and  whoever 
with  singleness  of  devotion  has  worshiped  the  Father, 
have  kept  up  through  the  ages  the  undying  succession  of 


THE   SOUL   THE    LIVING    TEMPLE.  103 

true  worshipers.  The  proudest  monument  of  pagan  wor- 
ship is  a  shattered  ruin  upon  the  Acropolis  of  Athens; 
the  temple  at  Jerusalem  with  its  goodly  stones  is  buried 
under  the  Haram  of  the  mosque  of  Omar  ;  the  antiquarian 
digs  for  its  foundation ;  the  Jews  wail  beside  the  tradi- 
tional stones  of  its  wall ;  but  He  with  whom  there  is 
neither  Greek  nor  Jew,  who  dwells  in  humble,  believing 
souls,  seeks  and  owns  as  true  worshipers  all  who,  in  what- 
ever tongue,  cry  "  Abba,  Father." 


CHAPTER  IX. 

A   LIVING   PROVIDENCE. 

Yeaes  ago,  when  the  cloud  that  hung  over  the  African 
race  in  the  United  States  was  so  thick  that  there  appeared 
no  possibility  of  deliverance,  Mr.  Frederick  Douglas  called 
for  a  bloody  insurrection  as  the  only  hope  of  liberty ;  and 
even  that  seemed  rather  the  frenzy  of  despair.  Depicting 
the  wrongs  of  his  people  with  an  eloquence  that  awed  his 
hearers,  telling  tales  of  horror  that  made  one's  hair  stand 
on  end,  he  cried  for  the  retribution  of  blood.  Friends, 
counsels,  measures,  events  had  failed  to  further  their  cause, 
or  had  been  linked  in  connivance  with  the  wrong ;  patience 
and  hope  were  utterly  gone,  and  there  remained  only  the 
last  straggle  of  desperation.  When  he  ceased  speaking, 
there  was  a  hush  of  horror  and  dread  over  the  assembly, 
that  seemed  to  confirm  his  forebodings.  Directly  in  front 
of  the  platform  sat  a  tall  gaunt  figure,  black  as  the  night 
that  Douglas  had  -depicted: — a  woman  who,  had  she 
lived  in  Africa,  might  have  passed  for  a  sorceress  or  a 
sibyl,  but  who  had  won  repute  among  her  people  as  a 
prophetess  taught  of  God.  Her  very  name  she  claimed  to 
have  received  by  inspiration — Sojourner  Truth — a  type  of 
her  mission :  "Truth"  because  she  was  appointed  to  give 
the  Lord's  testimony;  "Sojourner"  because  she  was  to  go 
from  place  to  place  testifying  as  she  went,  and  sojourning 
only  long  enough  to  testify.  Fastening  upon  the  speaker 
her  keen  black  eye,  now  fired  with  a  holy  indignation, 
and  raising  her  finger  as  in  prophetic  admonition,  she  cried 
in  a  voice  that  pierced  every  car,  "  Frederick,  is  God  dead?" 
104 


PROVIDENCE    IN    THE    OVERTHROW    OF   SLAVERY.    105 

Like  a  flash  of  lightning  that  question  scattered  a  darkness 
that  all  had  felt.  Faith,  patience,  hope,  courage  came  back 
with  the  reviving  of  the  thought  of  a  living  God. 

The  years  have  confirmed  Sojourner's  faith.  When  the 
national  government  had  surrendered  itself  in  every  de- 
partment to  the  intrigues  or  the  assumptions  of  the  slave- 
power;  when  Congress  had  enacted  the  Fugitive-Slave 
law,  and  the  President  had  made  haste  to  enforce  it  by 
Marshals,  Commissioners  and  United  States  troops;  when 
the  Missouri  Compromise  was  repealed,  and  the  Supreme 
Court  decided  that  slaves  could  be  held  as  property  in  the 
territories  of  the  United  States,  and  the  Chief  Justice  gave 
the  sanction  of  his  office  to  the  stigma  that  "black  men 
had  no  rights  which  white  men  were  bound  to  respect;"  it 
seemed  indeed  that  the  cause  of  the  slave  was  hopeless,  and 
that  nothing  remained  to  him  but  the  recklessness  of  des- 
peration. But  God  was  not  "dead."  The  very  audacity 
that  sought  first  to  control  the  general  government  and 
then  to  subvert  it,  overreached  itself;  and  we  have  seen 
slavery  abolished  by  proclamation  of  the  President,  and 
the  army  of  the  United  States  employed  for  its  over- 
throw; Congress  that  had  been  the  tool  of  the  Slave- 
power,  dictating  to  the  States  of  the  Slave  Confederacy 
measures  of  justice  to  the  freedmen ;  those  States  recognizing 
the  political  equality  of  the  blacks  as  the  condition  of  their 
own  restoration  to  political  privileges  in  the  Union;  the 
Constitution  that  had  been  made  a  shield  for  slavery, 
amended  so  as  to  prohibit  the  exclusion  of  any  citizen  from 
the  polls  by  reason  of  race,  color,  or  former  state  of  servi- 
tude ;  the  President  congratulating  the  country  upon  this 
momentous  change  of  policy  as  the  most  important  event 
since  the  foundation  of  the  government,  and  taking  pains 
to  efface  the  stigma  that  the  Supreme  Court  had  affixed  to 
the  black  race.  1     A  retribution  so  thorough  and  particular, 

1  President  Grant's  proclamation  of  the  ratification  of  the  Fifteenth  Amend- 
ment. 


106  THE   THEOLOGY   OF    CHRIST. 

a  revolution  so  complete  and  circumstantial,  effected  by 
means  above  human  foresight  or  control,  gives  emphasis  to 
the  faith  of  the  sable  prophetess  in  the  living  God. 

Yet  there  are  those  who  style  themselves  "friends  of 
progress/'  and  assume  even  the  ambitious  role  of  the  priest- 
hood of  Humanity,  who  would  deprive  the  poor  and  op- 
pressed of  this  kindling  thought,  this  great  and  blessed 
hope,  and  would  make  God  dead  alike  to  good  or  evil  in 
the  world.  Not  content  to  reduce  all  physical  phenomena 
to  a  system  of  fixed  laws,  which  admit  of  no  superintend- 
ing Power,  and  with  which  no  volitions,  either  natural  or 
supernatural,  interfere,  they  would  bring  human  society 
and  history  into  the  same  category,  concluding  all  the 
phases  of  national  growth  and  decay,  and  the  actions  of  in- 
dividuals in  all  the  varieties  of  human  conduct,  by  physi- 
cal conditions  that  determine  the  development  of  individu- 
als, of  nations,  and  of  races  according  to  certain  subtile, 
perhaps  uninterpretable,  but  nevertheless  uniform  and  all- 
controlling  laws.  This  was  the  theory  upon  which  Mr. 
Buckle  projected  his  History  of  Civilization: — that  "the 
actions  of  men,  being  determined  solely  by  their  antece- 
dents, must  have  a  character  of  uniformity,  that  is  to  say, 
must,  under  precisely  the  same  circumstances,  always  issue 
in  precisely  the  same  results."  So  strong  was  his  convic- 
tion that  all  human  actions,  including  those  that  seem  to  be 
prompted  by  personal  feelings — even  marriages  on  the  one 
hand,  and  crimes  on  the  other — are  determined  by  general 
laws,  that  he  expressed  his  belief  that  "before  another  cen- 
tury the  chain  of  evidence  will  be  complete,  and  it  will  be 
as  rare  to  find  an  historian  who  denies  the  undeviating  regu- 
larity of  the  moral  world,  as  it  is  now  to  find  a  philosopher 
who  denies  the  regularity  of  the  material  world."1  This 
moral  order,  however,  in  Mr.  Buckle's  meaning,  is  not  the 
Providential  ruling  of  the  world  according  to  a  divine  plan, 

1  History  of  Civilization  in  England,  I.  pp.  14-,  24. 


POSITIVISM    AT   ISSUE    WITH   CHRIST.  107 

but  the  development  of  mind  and  of  Nature,  each  by  the 
laws  of  its  own  organization,  and  with  "a  reciprocal  modifi- 
cation from  which  all  events  must  necessarily  spring."  Mr. 
Buckle's  admirers  have  sought  to  relieve  him  of  the  charge 
of  Fatalism;  yet  when  this  school  of  Positivists  speak  of 
"  the  Infinite "  and  "the  Absolute,"  it  is  the  infinite  and 
absolute  in  Idea  or  in  Late — some  vast  generalization  of  the 
phenomena  of  the  universe  under  a  law  of  correlation — and 
not  an  infinite  Spirit,  who  created  the  universe,  and  now 
upholds  and  governs  it  through  laws  that  are  the  mute  ex- 
pressions of  His  own  will  and  power.  Either  the  Person- 
ality of  God  is  denied  altogether,  and  the  Deity  is  only  the 
highest  formula  for  the  generalization  of  existing  laws,  or 
if  His  personality  is  admitted,  He  is  conceived  of  as 
separated  from  the  actual  course  of  affairs,  and  existing  if 
not  in  the  state  of  inactivity  attributed  to  Buddha,  at  least 
in  the  attitude  of  non-intervention  by  any  volition  or  act 
of  His,  direct  or  indirect,  in  the  ongoing  sequence  of 
events.  Thus  Comte  speaks  of  the  doctrine  of  Providence 
as  a  transient  theory,  a  makeshift  of  ignorance,  which  in 
the  progress  of  science  has  been  displaced  by  the  discovery 
and  the  systematizing  of  laws. 

It  is  impossible  to  harmonize  this  world-scheme  of  the 
Positivists  with  the  teachings  of  Christ.  The  displace- 
ment of  Providence  from  the  world,  the  denial  of  God's 
personal  interest  in  His  creatures  and  His  superintendence 
over  them  as  a  present  reality,  is  directly  at  variance  with 
the  doctrine  of  Jesus,  who  taught  that  His  Father  watches 
over  all  creatures  and  events,  and  is  concerned  in  the 
affairs  of  men  both  individually  and  collectively.  Upon 
most  points  it  is  easy  to  reconcile  alleged  differences 
between  science  and  revelation  ;  and  it  may  be  assumed 
that  there  is  no  fact  of  science  fairly  proved  that  may  not 
be  reconciled  with  the  Scriptures  fairly  interpreted.  But 
the  denial  of  a  divine  Providence  in  the  world,  present, 


103  THE   THEOLOGY   OF    CHRIST. 

personal,  particular,  cannot  be  reconciled  with  the  teach- 
ings of  Jesus ;  and  hence  if  He  taught  herein  the  truth  of 
God,  that  materialistic  theory  which  has  no  place  for  God 
in  the  ordering  of  affairs,  must  be  false.  It  is  of  the  first 
importance,  therefore,  to  determine  from  the  collation  of 
His  own  words,  what  Christ  did  teach  concerning  Provi- 
dence. 

First  Those  physical  phenomena  which  are  commonly 
described  as  the  course  of  nature,  Christ  represented  as 
being  under  the  direction  and  control  of  God,  and  as  ex- 
pressing His  purpose  and  will.  "Love  your  enemies, 
bless  them  that  curse  you,  do  good  to  them  that  hate  you, 
and  pray  for  them  which  despiteful ly  use  you  and  perse- 
cute you,  that  ye  may  be  the  children  of  your  Father 
which  is  in  heaven :  for  He  maketh  His  sun  to  rise  on  the 
evil  and  on  the  good,  and  sendeth  rain  on  the  just  and  on 
the  unjust." l  Now  the  sun  rises  with  undeviating  regu- 
larity— the  diurnal  revolution  of  the  earth  upon  its  axis 
causing  that  appearing  and  disappearing  of  the  sun  which 
we  call  sunrise  and  sunset.  These  laws  are  fixed  and  as- 
certained :  and  although  the  laws  by  which  the  rain  falls 
are  less  definitely  understood,  the  showers  come  not  by 
chance,  nor  by  miracle,  but  by  law.  And  yet  Jesus  traced 
the  rising  of  the  sun  and  the  falling  of  the  rain,  in  the 
universality  of  their  beneficence,  to  the  purpose  of  God  in 
so  ordering  them  for  the  good  of  His  creatures ;  and  He 
pointed  to  the  uniformity  of  these  events  as  an  expression 
of  the  impartial  goodness  of  our  Heavenly  Father,  to  be 
followed  by  us  as  an  example.  Now  there  is  no  force  in 
the  argument  drawn  from  this  illustration — that,  by  the 
impartiality  of  love,  we  should  be  perfect  in  the  same  way 
as  our  Father  in  Heaven  is  perfect — if  the  sun  rises  or  the 
rain  falls  by  laws  of  its  own  producing,  or  by  eternal 

1  Matt.  v.  44,  45. 


REGULAR   SEQUENCE    NOT    EFFICIENT   CAUSE.       109 

laws,  or  by  purely  mechanical  law,  from  which  all  idea  of 
a  designing  will  is  shut  out. 

In  the  phenomena  of  Nature  we  must  be  careful  not  to 
confound  regularity  of  sequence  with  causation,  or  to  mis- 
take uniformity  for  efficiency.  Where  one  event  invariably 
follows  another  in  the  same  circumstances,  we  say  there 
is  a  law  of  succession ;  but  it  doss  not  follow  that  the  event 
next  preceding  is  the  efficient  cause  of  its  successor.  Mere 
phenomena  cannot  be  perpetually  adduced  to  explain  phe- 
nomena. The  conception  of  causality  requires  an  active 
will-power  somewhere  back  of  the  apparent  physical  law. 
To  Christ  that  will  was  ever  present  and  ever  active  in  all 
the  ordinances  of  Nature. 

This  He  assumed  when  He  taught  us  to  pray  to  our 
Father  in  heaven,  saying  "Give  us  this  day  our  daily 
bread."  Now  bread  is  procured  by  processes  that  obey  es- 
tablished chemical,  vital,  and  mechanical  laws,  both  sepa- 
rately and  in  combination — the  growth  of  the  wheat,  the 
harvesting,  threshing,  and  winnowing,  the  grinding  of  the 
flour,  the  mixing  of  the  dough,  the  baking  of  the  bread — ■ 
the  agency  of  Nature  uniting  throughout  with  the  agency 
of  Man;  and  there  is  nothing  apparent  in  the  process  of 
bread-making  that  cannot  be  referred  to  one  or  the  other 
of  these  visible  agents.  But  whence  comes  the  power  of 
heat  and  moisture,  acting  upon  the  soil  and  the  seed  to 
produce  the  living  growth?  whence  the  principle  of  fer- 
mentation? and  whence  the  power  of  heat  to  convert  the 
paste  into  bread? 

In  looking  at  a  grist-mill,  the  wheels,  the  gearing,  the 
hopper,  the  stones,  the  bolter,  one  remarks  the  ingenuity 
of  man  in  this  machinery  for  grinding  his  flour;  but  the 
wood  and  iron  of  which  the  water-wheel  is  made,  the  water 
that  turns  it,  the  stones  that  grind  the  meal,  these  are  no 
more  of  man's  providing  than  are  his  own  mind  and  muscle 
that  appropriate  such  materials  to  his  use.     And  after  all, 


110  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

that  which  grinds  his  flour  is  the  sun:  for  the  sun  perpetu- 
ally gathers  ,the  moisture  that  forms  the  clouds,  whose 
showers  feed  the  stream  that  turns  the  mill.  And  so,  back 
of  all  the  ingenuity  of  man,  and  of  all  visible  agencies  of 
Nature,  the  doctrine  of  Christ  refers  us  to  our  Heavenly 
Father  as  the  giver  of  our  bread,  and  bids  us  ask  Him  for 
it  day  by  day.  But  one  could  not  thus  ash  Nature  for 
daily  bread;  since  Nature  has  no  intelligence  nor  will,  nor 
conscious  power  of  adaptation,  in  the  processes  by  which 
she  ministers  to  the  sustenance  of  man.  One  can  not  pray 
to  a  law  of  physics  or  of  chemistry  as  to  a  Father!  The 
laws  of  Nature  remove  further  back  the  point  at  which 
the  will  of  God  touches  the  whole  process  of  providing 
our  food,  but  these  do  not  disconnect  that  process  from  the 
divine  will  and  reduce  it  to  a  function  of  Nature.  A  father 
who  grows  his  own  grain  and  grinds  his  own  wheat,  liter- 
ally provides  bread  for  his  children;  but  one  who  does 
other  business,  is  a  merchant,  a  banker,  a  doctor,  a  lawyer, 
and  buys  all  his  bread  of  the  baker,  is  none  the  less  the 
giver  of  the  daily  bread  of  his  household.  A  little  boy 
lost  in  the  streets  of  New  York,  and  unable  to  tell  where 
he  lived,  gave  his  father's  name  and  said  that  he  made 
bread.  After  a  fruitless  search  among  the  bakers,  it  was 
discovered  that  the  child's  father  was  a  merchant,  but  was 
accustomed  on  leaving  home  for  his  business  to  say  play- 
fully to  the  little  fellow,  "Now  I  must  go  and  make  some 
more  bread  for  you."  Yet  he  did  make  bread  for  his  child 
as  truly  as  if  he  had  baked  it.  When  a  father  goes  away 
from  home  and  leaves  an  order  with  the  baker  to  supply 
the  family  during  his  absence,  he  still  provides  their  daily 
bread ;  and  if  he  should  prolong  his  absence  for  years,  and 
simply  send  remittances  to  meet  the  necessities  of  his  family, 
these  intervening  processes  would  not  sever  nor  even  sus- 
pend his  personal  agency  as  the  provider. 

Now  God  is  our  Father;  and  the  far-reaching  arrange- 


PROVIDENCE    UNIVERSAL    AND    PARTICULAR.       Ill 

ments  He  has  made  through  which  we  obtain  our  daily 
bread,  cannot  dissociate  the  provision  for  our  wants  from 
His  loving  thought  and  care.  Both  the  constitution  of 
man  and  the  circumstances  in  which  he  acts  are  fairly 
included  within  the  providential  purposes  of  God.  Man 
acts  either  from  his  own  nature,  or  from  the  influence  of 
circumstances,  or  from  a  combination  of  these  two  factors ; 
and  He  who  created  both  man  and  nature  with  their 
mutual  adaptations,  can  also  bring  them  together  in  special 
adaptations,  through  His  familiar  and  constant  supervision 
of  their  several  laws.  And  the  fact  of  this  personal  divine 
agency  in  and  through  the  ordinary  phenomena  of  life, 
is  fundamental  in  the  doctrine  of  Christ  concerning  Provi- 
dence. 

Christ  also  taught  the  universality  of  this  Providence 
over  the  kingdoms  of  Nature  and  of  life.  It  is  God  who 
clothes  the  grass  of  the  field,  and  gives  to  the  lilies  their 
beauty,  though  they  toil  not,  neither  do  they  spin.  It  is 
our  heavenly  Father  who  feedeth  the  ravens  and  the  fowls 
of  the  air,  though  they  sow  not,  neither  do  they  reap  nor 
gather  into  barns.  l  God  gave  to  the  birds  their  free  un- 
caring nature,  and  the  instinct  by  which  they  seek  their 
food;  and  in  the  diversities  of  food  made  ready  for  the 
diversities  of  creatures  are  manifested  a  forethought  and 
plan  that  argue  an  intelligent  providence.  The  uniformity 
of  this  adaptation  cannot  account  for  the  fact  of  the  adap- 
tation ;  and  when  we  inquire  why  each  bird  and  each  beast 
seeks  always  and  finds  its  own  kind  of  food,  there  can  be 
no  better  answer  than  that  which  Christ  has  given,  "Your 
heavenly  Father  feedeth  them." 

In  discoursing  of  Providence,  Jesus  instanced  the  par- 
ticular care  of  God  toward  those  that  love  Him  and  trust 
in  His  will.  His  argument  from  the  universal  care  of 
God  for  the  lower  orders  of  creatures,  the  raven,  the  spar- 

1  Matt.  vi.  26-31. 


112  THE    THEOLOGY    OF    CHRIST. 

row,  was  that  the  children  of  God  should  so  much  the  more 
tins  in  Him  for  all  the  wants  of  the  body,  and  devote  them- 
selves spiritually  to  His  holy  kingdom  and  will.  "Are  ye 
not  much  better  than  they?  shall  He  not  much  more  clothe 
you,  O  ye  of  little  faith?"  l  The  argument  is  from  the 
less  to  the  greater: — "therefore  take  no  thought" — be 
not  anxious  about  the  necessaries  of  life, — "saying  What 
shall  we  eat?  or  What  shall  we  drink?  or  Wherewithal 
shall  we  be  clothed?  for  your  heavenly  Father  knoweth 
that  ye  have  need  of  all  these  things."2  To  have  any 
validity  in  logic,  to  give  any  encouragement  to  faith,  this 
argument  must  proceed  on  the  assumption  that  God  takes 
immediate  cognizance  of  the  condition  and  wants  of  those 
who  look  to  Him  in  trust,  and  arranges  outward  circum- 
stances for  their  advantage:  for  the  counsel  "Seek  ye  first 
the  kingdom  of  God  and  His  righteousness,"  is  followed 
with  the  unqualified  assurance  "and  all  these  things  shall 
be  added  to  you;"  3 — an  assurance  grounded  in  the  fact 
that  "your  heavenly  Father  knoweth  that  ye  have  need  of 
all  these  things" — "therefore  take  no  thought  for  the 
morrow." 

The  counsel  that -Jesus  gave  His  disciples  touching 
their  deportment  under  danger,  was  based  upon  the  same 
doctrine  of  God's  personal  care  over  His  children.  They 
were  charged  not  to  fear  human  enemies  who  could  do 
them  no  real  harm,  and  whose  apparent  power  of  mischief 
was  under  the  restraint  of  their  heavenly  Father : — not 
even  a  sparrow  is  forgotten  before  God;  and  "the  very 
hairs  of  your  head  are  all  numbered." 4  This  same  argu- 
ment Christ  applied  to  Himself.  When  tempted  of  the 
devil,  in  the  extremity  of  hunger,  He  refused  to  turn 
stones  into  bread,  and  confided   in  the  loving  care  of  His 

i  Mat.  vi.  30.  2  Mat,  vi.  31,  32. 

3  Mat.  vi.  32,  33.  *  Luke  xii.  6,  7. 


NO   FAVORITISM    IN   PROVIDENCE.  113 

Father  for  the  relief  of  His  necessities. T  Again,  when 
Pilate  sought  to  intimidate  Him,  saying,  "Knowest  thou 
not  that  I  have  power  to  crucify  thee,"  Jesus  answered, 
"  Thou  couldst  have  no  power  at  all  against  me,  except  it 
were  given  thee  from  above." 2  By  this  He  meant  not 
simply  that  the  power  of  earthly  rulers  is  derived  from 
God  as  the  supreme  disposer  of  events ;  but  that  Pilate 
had  no  present  power  of  proceeding  against  Himself, 
except  by  the  permission  of  His  heavenly  Father.  His 
meaning  was  precisely  the  same  as  in  that  saying  to  Peter 
a  few  hours  before,  "  Thinkest  thou  that  I  cannot  now 
pray  to  my  Father,  and  He  shall  presently  give  Me  more 
than  twelve  legions  of  angels  ?  But  how  then  shall  the 
Scriptures  be  fulfilled  that  thus  it  must  be  ? "  3  Jesus 
believed  in  the  constant  superintendence  of  His  heavenly 
Father  over  all  the  events  of  His  life : — constant,  as  opera- 
ting through  the  common  established  order  of  things,  and 
particular,  as  adapting  events  to  occasions,  means  to  ends. 

What  is  sometimes  called  "special  providence"  may  be 
special  only  in  our  recognition  of  it — special  because  the 
importance  of  the  event  to  ourselves  leads  us  to  notice  it 
as  something  extraordinary;  but  Christ  taught  that  the 
Providence  of  God  is  not  something  occasional  and  excep- 
tional, but  is  as  constant  and  particular  as  the  care  of  a 
Father  over  his  children : — special,  therefore,  only  as 
being  personal  and  particular. 

But  Jesus  did  also  include  in  His  doctrine  of  Provi- 
dence the  fact  that,  to  accomplish  particular  ends,  God  does 
sometimes  put  forth  direct  acts  of  control  or  intervention  in 
human  affairs.  In  view  of  the  small  number  of  preachers 
of  the  Gospel  as  compared  with  the  work  of  evangeliza- 
tion, He  instructed  His  disciples  to  "  pray  the  Lord  of  the 
harvest  that  He  would  send  forth  laborers  into  the  har- 

1  Matt.  iv.  3,  4,  11.  2  John  xix.  10,  11. 

3  Matt.  xxvi.  53,  5  1. 


114  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

vest."  l  Now  such  a  prayer  could  have  force  only  upon 
the  assumption  that  God  does  act  directly  in  the  affairs  of 
this  world,  fur  particular  interests,  and  shape  men  and 
means  toward  given  ends.  Again,  in  predicting  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem,  Christ  announced  that  as  His 
own  coming  to  judgment,  and  indicated  to  His  disciples 
what  would  be  the  signs  of  that  coming — directly  connect- 
ing the  war,  famine  and  pestilence  that  did  actually 
attend  that  terrible  siege,  with  a  divine  retribution  for  the 
sins  of  the  nation.  He  promised  also  safety  and  protec- 
tion to  His  own  disciples,  and  declared  that  for  their  sakes 
the  days  of  tribulation  should  be  shortened.2  All  this 
came  to  pass  by  means  apparently  natural,  but  under  the 
guidance  of  a  supernatural  power. 

The  whole  doctrine  of  Christ  concerning  the  Providence 
of  God  teaches  that  this  is  a  living  reality,  present,  constant, 
universal,  and  particular,  both  mediate  and  immediate. 

This  doctrine  accords  with  the  highest  Reason,  and  gives 
a  key  to  the  course  of  Nature  itself.  For  either  we  must 
believe  in  a  Providence  over  the  world  that  extends  to  the 
particular  while  it  controls  the  universal,  or  allow  the  athe- 
istic notion  of  chance,  or  say  that  events  can  come  to  pass 
by  laws  or  agencies  beyond  His  knowledge  or  control,  and 
therefore  that  His  whole  purpose  of  wisdom  and  beneficence 
in  the  creation  is  liable  to  be  frustrated  through  causes  out 
of  sight  or  out  of  reach — that  a  broken  rail  may  throw  the 
train  off  the  track,  or  a  tiny  borer  under  the  keel  may  sink 
the  ship.  But  in  face  of  the  evidence  of  final  causes, 
strengthening  the  native  belief  in  an  intelligent  Creator,  it 
is  impossible  to  refer  the  origin  of  the  world  to  chance; 
and  if  chance  did  not  produce  the  world,  it  cannot  come  in 
at  this  late  day  to  divide  its  events  with  the  Supreme 
Intelligence  that  shaped  these  at  the  first.  To  withdraw 
any  class  of  events  from  the  knowledge  or  the  power  of 

l  Matt.  ix.  37,  38.  2  Matt.  xxiv.  22. 


LAWS  NEED  TO  BE  ACCOUNTED  FOR.       115 

God,  and  declare  these  absolutely  independent  of  His  con- 
trol, would  be  to  say  that  He  had  made  a  world  He  could 
not  manage;  and  moreover,  such  is  the  inter-dependence 
of  events,  both  great  and  small,  and,  on  the  broad  scale  of 
things,  adverse  and  hostile  events,  permitted  for  awhile, 
are  so  often  made  to  contribute  to  the  very  end  they  threat- 
ened to  frustrate,  or  are  overridden  by  some  sublime  and 
comprehensiva  movement — that  the  logical  principles  in- 
volved in  creation,  and  the  course  of  affairs  in  human 
history,  shut  us  up  to  a  belief  in  the  providence  of  God  as 
extending  to  all  actual  events. 

It  does  not  relieve  this  necessity  to  deny  a  personal 
Providence,  and  fall  back  upon  a  system  of  general  laws. 
These  laws,  incapable  of  originating  themselves,  can  find 
the  reason  of  their  own  existence  only  in  the  will  of  the 
all-wise  and  almighty  Creator,  who  set  them  in  order  fore- 
seeing and  including  their  working  and  results.  Climb 
we  never  so  high  the  ladder  of  second  causes,  at  the  top 
we  find  the  Infinite  stretching  above  and  around  us:  the 
ladder  is  supported  not  by  its  own  strength  nor  by  the 
solidity  of  its  foundation,  but  by  an  invisible  hand  from 
above;  it  is  only  by  looking  up  that  we  can  climb  with 
safety,  and  if  we  take  out  a  pin  here  and  a  rung  there  as 
insignificant  or  unnecessary,  we  shall  break  through  and 
fall  over  into  the  abyss  of  Atheism.  The  doctrine  of  Provi- 
dence as  taught  by  Christ  differs  equally  from  Fatalism 
and  from  Pantheism.  It  recognizes  the  personal  care  of 
our  Heavenly  Father,  acting  both  through  the  laws  that 
He  has  impressed  upon  Nature  and  apart  from  these,  and 
thus  it  keeps  Him  in  a  constant  connection  of  thought, 
feeling  and  will  with  the  creatures  of  His  hand. 

This  doctrine  of  Providence  harmonizes  perfectly  with 
our  consciousness  of  free-will.  Free-will  is  a  fact  of  con- 
sciousness, and  we  can  neither  go  back  of  the  testimony  of 
consciousness  nor  explain  that  away.     We  know  that  we 


116  THE   THEOLOGY    OF   CHRIST. 

have  the  power  of  choice,  and  that  in  moral  action  we 
might  choose  otherwise  than  as  we  do.  Yet  our  free  choice 
and  action  in  any  given  case  do  not  exclude  this  from  the 
divine  prevision  as  an  event,  since  the  certainty  of  an  event 
as  matter-of-fact  to  the  mind  of  God  cannot  conflict  with 
the  free-agency  of  man  in  bringing  to  pass  that  event. 
Certainty  and  Freedom  are  not  irreconcilable  factors  in  the 
problem  of  life.  The  time  and  place  of  my  birth,  for  in- 
stance, were  determined  in  the  Providence  of  God  without 
my  agency  or  even  my  consciousness.  It  was  by  His  will 
that  I  began  to  live.  But  when  I  began  to  move  by  my 
own  volition  did  I  cease  to  sustain  any  relation  to  the  will 
of  God?  Were  the  boundaries  of  His  Providence  limited 
by  the  nursery  ? — and  did  I  pass  out  from  under  the  Provi- 
dential government  of  God  the  moment  I  began  to  act  by 
my  own  will?  That  were  absurd.  But  on  the  other  hand, 
did  God  compel  my  actions,  and  above  all  compel  my  sin- 
ful actions?  I  know  better;  since  consciousness  assures  me 
of  my  freedom,  while  common-sense  instructs  me  as  to  His 
Providence.  It  is  equally  true  that  I  am  free  and  that 
God  reigns. 

The  doctrine  of  Providence  taught  by  Christ  harmon- 
izes also  with  the  general  laws  of  the  physical  world.  The 
laws  under  which  we  generalize  the  orderly  sequences  of 
phenomena  are  thoughts  or  purposes  of  the  Creator  wrought 
into  permanent  links  of  succession ; — a  stereotyped  edition 
of  certain  divine  ideas,  continually  renewed  from  the  same 
plates.  But  is  the  whole  of  the  divine  nature  bound  up  in 
these,  and  imprisoned  by  them  ?  These  laws  are  the  per- 
manent base  for  the  operations  of  His  Providence :  as 
proofs  of  divine  forethought  for  our  welfare,  they  tend  to 
give  stability  and  confidence  to  our  dependence  upon 
Providence.  To  lay  in  fuel  for  the  winter  in  the  summer 
is  to  provide  for  the  daily  wants  of  one's  family  as  really  as 
by  marketing  every  day  ; — the  one  form  of  Providence  does 


PROVIDENCE    GIVES    COURAGE    TO    FAITH.  117 

not  preclude  the  other.  Because  God  ministers  to  our  ne- 
cessities so  largely  through  a  system  of  general  laws,  He  is 
not  thereby  cut  off  from  a  living  sympathy  and  care  for  us. 
It  is  still  our  Father  in  Heaven  who  gives  us  day  by  day 
our  daily  bread,  and  who  delivers  us  from  evil. 

The  doctrine  of  Christ  concerning  the  Providence  of 
God  furnishes  a  rational  ground  and  motive  for  prayer. 
Under  stress  of  want  or  danger  it  is  an  instinct  of  the  soul 
to  pray.  But  prayer  is  the  merest  superstition  if  there  is 
no  personal,  acting,  guiding  Providence.  Only  in  the  be- 
lief that  we .  have  a  Father  who  knows  our  wants  and  can 
relieve  them,  who  thinks  upon  us,  and  will  hear  us,  can 
we  pray  in  faith. 

This  doctrine  encourages  us  to  trust  in  God  with  child- 
like confidence  and  affection.  Such  a  faith  will  lift  the 
soul  to  the  sublimity  of  absolute  repose  :  not  the  repose  of 
inaction  or  of  indifference,  but  of  that  confidence  in  God's 
presence,  power,  wisdom,  love,  that  frees  the  mind  from 
all  uneasiness  or  concern  in  respect  to  either  the  wants  of 
the  body  or  its  own  future.  "  Fear  ye  not,  ye  are  of  more 
value  than  many  sparrows."  This  very  confidence  begets 
its  own  triumph.  The  faith  of  Sojourner  Truth  was  as 
ready  for  her  own  necessities  as  for  the  sorrows  of  her  peo- 
ple. Her  child  had  been  stolen  and  sold  into  slavery ;  and 
she  knew  only  in  a  vague,  general  way,  that  she  must  seek 
redress  at  the  Court-house,  and  that  for  this  money  was 
required.  She  thought  within  herself,  "  God  has  money," 
and  she  made  her  application  directly  to  Him.  In  her 
own  graphic  and  pathetic  story,  "I  didn't  rightly  know 
which  way  to  turn  ;  but  I  went  to  the  Lord,  and  I  said  to 
Him,  '  O  Lord,  ef  I  was  as  rich  as  you  be,  an'  you  was  as 
poor  as  I  be,  I'd  help  you,  you  know  I  would  ;  an'  oh  !  do 
help  me.'     An'  I  felt  sure  that  He  would,  an'  He  did." 

A  man  seeing  her  writhing  in  agony  before  the  Court 
House,  asked   what  was   the  matter,  and  directed  her  to 


118  THE   THEOLOGY    OF   CHRIST. 

friends  who  took  up  her  case  and  pressed  it  until  her  child 
was  recovered.  This  child-like  simplicity  of  trust  in  the 
providence  of  God  is  authorized  by  the  teachings  of  Christ. 
One  may  be  too  wise  to  admit  a  ground  for  it  in  his  phil- 
osophy, too  proud  to  admit  a  place  for  it  in  his  own  spirit ; 
one  may  love  the  world  too  much  to  be  willing  to  relin- 
quish that,  and  making  the  kingdom  of  God  his  supreme 
desire,  to  trust  his  heavenly  Father  for  his  daily  bread ; 
one  may  be  so  bent  upon  plans  of  his  own  that  he  cares 
nothing  for  Providence  unless  that  can  be  enlisted  in  these ; 
but  he  that  really  believes  what  Christ  has  taught  concern- 
ing our  Father  in  heaven,  he  that  exercises  a  true  Chris- 
tian faith,  will  so  trust  in  the  Lord  at  all  times,  as  to 
live  without  solicitude,  in  the  constant  exercise  of  gratitude 
and  devotion.  And  how  little  should  we  know  of  grief  if 
we  had  more  of  gratitude !  how  little  should  we  know  of 
despondency,  if  we  had  more  of  devotion !  When  we  shall 
fully  love,  then  only  will  we  fully  trust. 


CHAPTER  X. 

OF   PRAYEK. 

As  the  instinct  of  prayer  is  an  argument  for  a  Provi- 
dence— since  every  aptitude  of  man's  nature  finds  some 
corresponding  adaptation  in  the  system  of  things  with 
which  he  is  connected — so  also  is  the  fact  of  Providence 
the  decisive  warrant  for  prayer.  The  spontaneous  impulse 
of  the  soul  in  peril,  want,  or  fear,  to  invoke  the  aid  of  an 
unseen  Power — that  is  to  pray — encourages  the  belief  that, 
distinct  from  physical  laws  and  phenomena,  there  is  a 
spiritual  Power,  able  to  modify  or  shape  the  course  of 
things  for  our  advantage,  or  to  interpose  His  will  in  some 
direct  counteraction  to  apparent  evil.  Why  is  man  so 
constituted  that  in  his  helplessness  he  flies  to  the  Infinite 
for  succor,  if  all  things  move  forward  by  inexorable  law, 
and  God  has  abandoned  the  world  to  fate  ?  Then  prayer 
were  but  a  mockery  of  human  misery — the  wounded,  terri- 
fied bird,  seeing  the  serpent  about  to  spring  upon  it,  and 
beating  its  breast  wildly  against  the  bars  that  shut  it  in. 
That  very  principle  of  relation  by  which  science  links 
events  to  their  antecedents,  and  means  to  ends,  should  find 
in  this  normal  tendency  of  the  soul  to  look  to  a  higher 
Power,  a  law  of  interaction  by  which  prayer  links  the  soul 
to  God  by  the  feeling  of  dependence,  and  brings  God  to 
the  soul  in  the  bestowal  of  help. 

That  devout  philosopher,  Schleiermacher,  defined  religion 
as  the  feeling  of  dependence  upon  the  Absolute.  When 
physical  science  has  formulated  all  the  known  phenomena 
of  Nature  under  invariable  laws,  and  metaphysical  science 

119 


120  THE   THEOLOGY    OF    CHRIST. 

has  systematized  all  the  known  phenomena  of  mind  uncTer 
categories  of  its  own,  and  materialists  have  sought,  by  a 
process  of  mental  physiology,  to  reduce  the  manifestations 
of  intelligence  to  mere  functions  of  the  brain,  there  yet  re- 
mains within  the  consciousness — to  be  called  out  upon 
emergencies  of  ignorance,  of  danger,  of  trouble,  of  want — 
the  feeling  of  dependence  upon  a  Something  somewhere 
that  is  Absolute,  that  is  above  want,  danger,  or  necessity, 
that  is  dependent  upon  nothing  outside  of  itself,  but  can 
take  upon  itself  the  support  of  needy,  dependent  creatures. 
That  feeling  prompts  to  prayer,  and  prayer  points  to  Pro- 
vidence. 

And  so,  upon  the  other  hand,  the  fact  of  a  Providence — 
the  active  guidance  and  superintendence  of  persons  and 
events  by  a  Spirit  of  infinite  wisdom,  power .  and  bene- 
ficence,— gives  a  perfect  warrant  for  prayer,  makes  it  rea- 
sonable to  pray,  makes  it  hopeful  to  pray,  makes  prayer  a 
reality,  as  the  address  of  one  conscious  spirit  to  another 
conscious  spirit,  who  knows  the  needs  of  the  suppliant ; 
makes  prayer  a  power,  as  the  appeal  of  a  dependent  spirit 
to  the  Almighty  Spirit  who  will  help  the  needy  when  he 
crieth.  Such  was  the  doctrine  of  prayer  that  Christ  taught 
to  His  disciples,  and  that  He  himself  put  in  practice  upon 
memorable  occasions  of  His  earthly  life. 

At  the  foundation  of  His  teaching  on  this  subject  was 
the  conception  of  prayer  as  the  direct  address  of  the  soid  to 
God  as  its  Father.  "  After  this  manner  pray  ye :  Our 
Father  which  art  in  heaven."  1  "  Enter  into  thy  closet 
and  pray  to  thy  Father  which  is  in  secret." 2  As  an  en- 
couragement to  prayer  Christ  referred  to  the  readiness  with 
which  parents  regard  the  requests  of  their  children,  and 
said,  "  If  ye  then  being  evil  know  how  to  give  good  gifts 
unto  your  children,  how  much  more   shall  your  Father 

»  Matt.  vi.  9.  2  Matt.  vi.  6. 


PRAYER   ADDRESSES    A    LIVING    PERSON.  121 

which  is  in  heaven  give  good  things  to  them  that  ask 
Him."  x 

The  prayers  of  Jesus  Himself  were  direct  addresses  to 
His  Father.  "  I  thank  Thee,  O  Father,  Lord  of  heaven 
and  earth,  because  Thou  hast  hid  these  things  from  the 
wise  and  prudent,  and  hast  revealed  them  unto  babes."  2 
"  What  shall  I  say  ?  Father,  save  me  from  this  hour  ? 
Father,  glorify  Thy  name."  3 

The  last  prayer  of  Jesus  for  His  disciples,  was  the  audi- 
ble communion  of  His  soul  with  His  Father,  whom  He 
invoked  by  name,  at  each  petition  : 4  "  Father,  the  hour  is 
come :"  "  O  Father,  glorify  Thou  Me  with  Thine  own  self." 
"  Holy  Father;  keep  through  Thine  own  name  those  whom 
Thou  hast  given  Me."  "  O  righteous  Father,  the  world 
hath  not  known  Thee."  In  the  extremity  of  His  anguish 
in  the  garden,  He  prayed,  "  O  my  Father,  if  it  be  possible 
let  this  cup  pass  from  Me  :"  5  and  from  the  cross  He  cried, 
"  Father,  forgive  them."  6  This  direct  address  to  God  as 
Father  is  a  striking  characteristic  of  Christian  prayer. 
Human  language  cannot  express  all  that  this  mode  of  ad- 
dress implies. 

"The  Father"  is  a  living  person;  the  Father  of  our 
spirits  a  living  Spirit;  the  Father  of  all,  the  living  pos- 
sessor of  all,  who  as  the  Creator  has  control  over  all  beings 
and  events.  Therefore  to  pray  to  God  as  a  Father  is  to 
recognize  Him  as  in  immediate  relations  to  us  personally, 
and  to  all  that  concerns  us.  One  loses  sight  for  the  moment 
of  all  calculation  of  means  and  agencies,  of  secondary  causes 
and  intermediate  laws,  and  sees  only  the  great  preponder- 
ating truth  of  the  living  Spirit,  infinite  in  presence  and 
power,  who  is  above  every  law  and  nigh  to  every  soul. 

But  the  mind  does  not  rest  in  this  conception.  Prayer 
is  more  than  imagining  Avhat  God  is;  more  than  meditating 

1  Matt.  vii.  11.     2  Matt.  xi.  25.     3  John    xii.  27,  28.     *  John    XYii. 
6  Matt.  xxvi.  39.        6  Luke  xxiii.  34. 


122  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

upon  God;  more  than  any  subjective  state  or  feeling  pro- 
duced in  us  as  the  reflex  influence  of  divine  contemplation. 
In  prayer  the  soul  goes  out  to  God ;  it  addresses  God  as 
one  that  can  be  reached  by  its  supplications.  The  Father 
being  not  a  principle  nor  a  law,  not  an  abstraction  nor  a 
poetic  name,  but  a  living  person,  is  one  who  can  be  spoken 
to — yes,  this  Infinite  Spirit,  this  Maker  and  Lord  of  all 
things  can  be  spoken  to  by  you  and  me,  for  He  is  our 
Father ;  and  in  teaching  us  to  open  our  petitions  with  this 
endearing  name,  Christ  taught  us  to  come  to  God  through 
no  intervening  agency,  but  making  as  it  were  our  con- 
sciousness directly  audible  to  His. 

Moreover,  the  name  by  which  we  address  God  in  prayer 
implies  that  He  has  personal  relations  to  our  interests,  and 
is  personally  interested  in  whatever  affects  our  welfare. 
"  The  Father  "  concerns  Himself  personally,  directly,  con- 
stantly, in  and  for  the  happiness  of  His  children.  The 
name  signifies  a  mutual  relationship,  an  endearing  sympa- 
thy ;  it  warrants  us  in  appropriating  to  ourselves  the  divine 
personality  by  a  filial  affection  that  identifies  this  with  our 
very  life :  "  When  thou  hast  entered  into  thy  closet,  and 
hast  shut  to  the  door" — shutting  out  the  while  even  the 
nearest  of  earthly  friends — then  canst  thou,  for  the  moment 
as  it  were,  have  God  unto  thyself,  and  "  pray  to  thy  Father 
who  seeth  in  secret." 

Still  further,  the  name  by  which  Jesus  taught  us  to  ad- 
dress God  in  prayer  is  a  name  that  pledges  to  us  His  pres- 
ence and  His  love.  The  instinct  of  prayer  was  not  given 
to  mock  us  with  vain  aspirations  and  unsatisfied  longings ; 
neither  has  God  required  us  to  pray  simply  in  acknow- 
ledgment of  our  own  dependence,  and  of  His  power  and 
majesty.  He  is  our  Father ;  and  the  one  Father  who  loves 
us  with  a  love  that  is  always  wise,  pure,  unselfish,  perfect. 
"  What  man  is  there  of  you,  whom  if  his  son  ask  bread, 
will  he  give  him  a  stone?  or  if  he  ask  a  fish,  will  he  give 


PRAYER   FOR   TEMPORAL  THINGS.  123 

him  a  serpent?  If  ye,  then,  being  evil,  know  how  to  give 
good  gifts  unto  your  children,  how  much  more  shall  your 
Father  which  is  in  heaven  give  good  things  to  them  that 
ask  Him."  l  The  conception  that  underlies  all  true  prayer 
is  that  of  a  direct  address  to  God  as  a  Father. 

The  teaching  and  example  of  Christ  authorize  us  to  in- 
clude in  the  subject  matter  of  prayer,  our  physical  necessities 
and  our  temporal  interests  in  general.  Some  would  restrict 
prayer  to  themes  and  objects  purely  spiritual — thinking 
thus  to  avoid  the  speculative  difficulties  of  the  Christian 
doctrine  of  Providence,  and  yet  keep  up  a  living  connec- 
tion between  God  and  the  human  soul.  But  the  essential 
difficulty  in  expounding  Providence  is  not  got  rid  of  by 
transferring  it  from  the  sphere  of  matter  to  that  of  mind, 
since  the  mind  also  has  laws  of  its  own.  Many  of  the 
phenomena  of  thought,  memory,  association,  feeling,  can 
be  reduced  to  that  observed  regularity  of  sequence  which 
indicates  a  law  of  action  or  manifestation,  and  it  is  no  easier 
to  conceive  or  explain  how  a  distinct  personal  Power  could 
move  harmoniously  amid  the  laws  of  such  a  sphere  than 
amid  the  laws  of  matter.  Indeed,  seeing  that  mind  pos- 
sesses the  faculty  of  free  will,  and  therefore  can  oppose  it- 
self to  the  will  of  God,  it  may  even  be  more  difficult  to 
give  a  philosophy  of  divine  action  within  the  sphere  of 
mind  than  in  that  of  matter. 

The  validity  of  prayer  is  given  in  the  argument  hereto- 
fore adduced  for  a  personal  Providence.  That  argument 
rests  substantially  upon  the  same  grounds  with  the  argu- 
ment for  a  personal  God — the  apparent  ordering  or  purpos- 
ing of  events  with  reference  to  foreseen  ends ;  the  combina- 
tion of  different  and  even  opposite  laws  or  phenomena  so  as 
to  produce  some  special  and  beneficial  result ;  the  manifold 
adaptations  of  things  to  persons  and  of  persons  to  things — 
all  this,  wherever  discerned,  gives  intuitively  the  convic- 

i  Matt.  vii.  0,  12. 


124  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

tion  of  a  planning  and  over-ruling  mind ;  and  that  con- 
viction utters  itself  in  the  spontaneousness  of  prayer  for 
what  lies  beyond  the  compass  of  our  own  will.  A  French 
philosopher  at  dinner  with  the  keen-witted  Sidney  Smith 
declaimed  against  the  notion  of  Providence  as  contrary  to 
the  laws  of  things.  The  beautiful  workings  of  cause  and 
effect  in  Nature  he  used  to  illustrate  the  glory  of  Science, 
while  denying  the  existence  of  God.  Changing  the  subject 
Smith  observed  :  "  How  skilfully  this  pastry  has  been  pre- 
pared. "  "Admirable,"  rejoined  the  philosopher,  "it 
could  not  have  been  better  made  in  France."  "Well, 
then, "  said  Smith,  "  from  the  skill  shown  in  compounding 
this  dish  to  our  taste,  we  must  infer  the  non-existence  of 
the  cooh." 

The  logic  that  denies  a  Providence  in  a  world  so  full  of 
the  wise  and  careful  adaptation  of  means  to  ends,  must 
land  at  last  in  this  absurdity.  The  mind  intuitively  as- 
serts an  intelligent  cause  wherever  it  perceives  such  adapta- 
tion. And  the  universality  and  particularity  of  Provi- 
dence in  the  affairs  of  life  was  used  by  Christ  as  the  argu- 
ment for  making  our  temporal  concerns  the  subject-mat- 
ter of  prayer.  The  petition  "  Give  us  this  day  our  daily 
bread,"  is  not  to  be  reserved  for  some  extremity  when  one 
is  in  danger  of  starving,  but  is  a  daily  prayer  for  God's 
blessing  upon  our  industry,  for  the  means  of  temporal  sup- 
port ;  and  while  we  thus  look  to  God  for  daily  food,  we 
are  encouraged  not  to  suffer  temporalities  to  become  too 
engrossing,  since  our  Heavenly  Father  knows  what  we 
have  need  of,  and  Himself  will  care  for  us. 

Christ  taught  that  prayer  has  a  positive  influence  with 
God.  With  some  truly  devout  persons  it  is  a  notion  that 
"  God's  end  in  requiring  prayer  is  solely  that  it  may  be  a 
means  to  work  in  the  petitioner  a  suitable  frame  of  mind;" 
that  its  influence  is  wholly  subjective ;  that  the  feelings  of 
veneration,  dependence,  humility,  gratitude,  trust,  which  it 


PRAYER   NOT    MERELY   SUBJECTIVE.  125 

calls  into  exercise  are  the  substantial  benefits  of  prayer, 
its  real  efficacy ;  while  its  true  answer  is  found  in  the 
frame  of  submission  and  peace  that  it  induces  in  the  sup- 
pliant. A  familiar  illustration  of  this  view  likens  prayer 
to  "  a  man  in  a  small  boat  laying  hold  of  a  large  ship  : 
who,  if  he  does  not  move  the  large  vessel,  at  least  moves 
the  small  vessel  towards  the  large  one." 

That  the  frames  and  feelings  proper  to  prayer  form  no 
small  part  of  its  beneficial  influence,  and  contribute  much 
to  the  spiritual  growth  of  one  who  rightly  cultivates  them, 
all  must  agree.  But  could  one  cultivate  these,  would  it  be 
possible  to  cherish  such  frames  and  feelings  for  any  length 
of  time,  if  he  regarded  prayer  simply  as  a  kind  of  spiritual 
gymnastics  to  be  practised  upon  himself  for  the  sake  of 
these  effects  ?  Suppose  him  to  say,  '  I  cannot  sec  how  there 
can  be  a  Providence,  for  every  thing  moves  on  by  fixed 
laws :  I  do  not  imagine  that  prayer  has  any  influence  upon 
God,  that  my  asking  for  a  thing  has  any  connection  what- 
ever with  my  receiving  it ;  indeed,  I  believe  that  every 
thing  comes  to  me  or  befalls  me  in  the  regular  course  of 
nature  ;  nevertheless,  I  will  pray  for  the  sake  of  cultivating 
the  feelings  of  dependence  and  gratitude,  and  of  improving 
my  own  spiritual  state ;' — how  long  would  one  holding  such 
a  philosophy  be  likely  to  keep  up  his  unmeaning  and  ino- 
perative petitions  for  the  sake  of  their  reflex  influence  upon 
himself?  or  how  long  could  he  cherish  a  lively  interest  in 
that  which  at  heart  he  did  not  believe  in?  Those  spiritual 
frames  which  are  most  important  to  the  soul's  culture,  are 
best  developed  through  faith  in  the  efficacy  of  prayer  as  a 
direct  address  to  our  Father  in  heaven ;  and  Christ  con- 
stantly declared  the  prevailing  influence  of  prayer  with 
God  Himself  as  the  incentive  to  its  exercise.  "  Ask  and  it 
shall  be  given  you;" — the  asking  precedes  and  influences 
the  giving — "  seek,  and  ye  shall  find ;  knock,  and  it  shall 
be  opened  unto  you:  for  every  one  that  asketh,  receiveth: 


126  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHEIST. 

and  he  that  seeketh,  findeth :  and  to  him  that  knocketh, 
it  shall  be  opened."  l 

The  effect  of  united,  consentaneous  prayer  to  secure  some 
specific  object  of  faith,  in  the  sphere  of  spiritual  influences, 
is  set  forth  in  the  declaration,  "  If  two  of  you  shall  agree 
on  earth,  as  touching  anything  that  they  shall  ask,  it  shall 
be  done  for  them  of  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven." 2 
After  Jesus  had  confounded  His  disciples  by  His  power  in 
withering  the  barren  fig  tree,  He  made  this  an  argument 
with  them  for  faith  in  prayer:  "Have  faith  in  God — for 
verily  I  say  unto  you,  that  whosoever  shall  say  unto  this 
mountain,  Be  thou  removed,  and  be  thou  cast  into  the  sea, 
and  shall  not  doubt  in  his  heart,  but  shall  believe  that 
those  things  which  he  saith  shall  come  to  pass,  he  shall 
have  whatsoever  he  saith.  Therefore  I  say  unto  you, 
What  things  soever  ye  desire  when  ye  pray,  believe  that 
ye  receive  them,  and  ye  shall  have  them."  3  Though  this 
may  not  be  construed  as  a  literal  promise  of  power  to  work 
miracles,  yet  under  the  figure  of  removing  a  mountain,  it 
sets  forth  this  substantial  truth — that  earnest,  believing 
prayer  is  directly  efficacious  with  God  for  removing  great 
difficulties  and  achieving  great  works  in  connection  with 
His  cause. 

Luke  records  the  parable  of  the  unjust  judge,  to  show 
that  "  men  ought  always  to  pray,  and  not  to  faint" 4 — that 
favors  are  granted  to  persistent  importunity  which  might 
be  withheld  from  a  weaker  petition  ;  and  the  same  thing  is 
taught  by  the  parable  of  the  man  who  went  to  his  friend 
at  midnight,  and  importuned  him  for  bread. 5  Where 
there  is  a  Will  to  be  influenced,  a  Heart  to  be  affected  by 
entreaty,  one  can  understand  how  perseverance  in  prayer 
may  be  an  element  of  success ;  but  of  what  use  were  im- 
portunity in  a  world  from  which  the  personal  superinten- 

1  Mat.  vii.  7.  2  Mat.  xviii.  19.  s  Mark  xi.  22,  25. 

4  Luke  xviii.  1-9.         6  Luke  xi.  5-9. 


GOD  ENGAGES  TO  ANSWER  PRAYER.      127 

deuce  of  God  had  been  ruled  out  by  inexorable  laws  ? 
Our  reiterated  crying  would  avail  no  more  than  that  of 
the  priests  of  Baal,  when  they  cried  all  day  long  "  O  Baal, 
hear  us/'  and  cut  themselves  with  knives  in  the  frenzy  of 
their  importunity.  A  thousand  cries  could  not  move  Laws 
to  sympathy  ;  Fate  cannot  be  melted  by  importunity ;  but 
belief  in  the  personal  care  of  God  over  the  world  warrants 
persistency  in  prayer. 

The  assurance  that  God  is  influenced  by  prayer  is 
rendered  more  personal  and  practical  through  the  relations 
of  Christ  to  the  Father  on  the  one  hand  and  to  the  dis- 
ciples on  the  other.  With  a  view  to  comfort  His  disciples 
upon  the  eve  of  His  departure,  He  said,  "  Whatsoever  ye 
shall  ask  in  My  name,  that  will  I  do,  that  the  Father  may 
be  glorified  in  the  Son."  1  "  If  ye  abide  in  Me,  and  My 
words  abide  in  you,  ye  shall  ask  what  ye  will,  and  it  shall 
be  done  unto  you  :"  2 — and  again,  "  Whatsoever  ye  shall 
ask  the  Father  in  My  name  He  will  give  it  you."  3  Here 
the  efficacy  of  prayer  is  grounded  in  the  argument  of  love. 
And  all  the  instructions  and  promises  concerning  prayer 
given  by  Christ  rest  the  motive  and  encouragement  to 
pray,  not  in  its  effect  upon  our  own  hearts,  but  in  its  posi- 
tive influence  with  God  to  procure  the  object  of  our  hearts' 
desire.  It  is  what  our  heavenly  Father  engages  to  do  that 
is  held  up  to  our  faith  in  asking. 

If  it  be  asked,  How  can  God  be  influenced  by  our 
prayer  ? — it  is  a  sufficient  answer,  that  He  says  He  is  so 
influenced.  And  if  it  be  asked  again,  How  can  God  an- 
swer a  particular  prayer  in  a  world  of  general  laws  ?  it  is 
a  sufficient  reply  that  He  is  God.  Such  questions  lead  to 
an  enticing  field  of  speculation  ;  but  whatever  theory  we 
may  invent  to  explain  the  manner  in  which  God  may  an- 
swer prayer  in  harmony  with  the  laws  of  matter  and  of 
mind,  we  should  remember  that  this  is  purely  a  specula- 

1  John  xiv.  13.  2Jolm  xv.  7.  8  John  xvi.  23. 


128  THE   THEOLOGY  OF   CHRIST. 

tion,  and  not  to  be  put  forth  as  a  fact,  either  discovered  or 
revealed. 

Since  the  Bible  does  not  teach  that  prayer  is  commonly 
answered  by  miracle,  we  are  not  at  liberty  to  introduce  the 
miraculous  to  support  our  theory  of  prayer.  But  it  is  a 
prerogative  of  Spirit  to  direct,  adapt,  and  combine  the 
properties  and  laws  of  Matter  for  its  own  ends.  And 
since  this  is  done  even  under  the  limitations  of  the  human 
spirit,  much  more  must  God — a  Spirit  of  unlimited  know- 
ledge, wisdom  and  power — be  able  to  bring  His  will  to 
bear  upon  the  laws  and  conditions  of  Matter  and  Mind  so 
as  to  direct  and  develop  what  He  desires  to  bring  to  pass, 
without  impairing  that  orderly  constitution  of  things  which 
He  has  established. 

Professor  Tyndall  has  said,  "  The  ideas  of  prayer  and  of 
a  change  in  the  course  of  natural  phenomena  refuse  to  be 
connected  in  thought  j"  but  this  is  only  when  thought  nar- 
rows itself  and  narrows  all  the  powers  of  the  universe  to 
the  groove  of  physical  uniformity ;  when  thought  denies 
the  spirituality  of  its  own  parentage,  and  its  affinity  with  a 
world  of  spiritual  intelligences.  The  separate  properties 
of  nitrogen  and  oxygen  were  fixed  unchangeably  from  the 
moment  of  their  creation  ;  nor  could  it  have  been  possible 
to  conceive  beforehand  how  these  two  alien  inorganic  sub- 
stances could  be  made  to  support  the  life  of  organized 
beings ;  but  now  that  so  great  a  marvel  has  been  ac- 
complished by  intelligent  adaptation,  it  is  conceivable  that 
He  who  has  combined  the  deadly  nitrogen  and  the  con- 
suming oxygen  so  as  to  produce  the  life-giving  atmosphere, 
can  also  combine,  direct,  or  control  laws,  properties, 
tendencies  of  diverse  and  seemingly  contrary  natures,  so  as 
to  bring  forth  new  results  of  beneficence.  He  is  at  home 
in  the  laboratory  of  Nature,  and  equally  at  home  in  the 
processes  of  Mind. 

Moreover,  it  is  a  groundless  assumption  that  the  course 


LAWS   PROVE   AX   INTELLIGENCE.  129 

of  things  must  be  changed  in  order  that  prayer  may  be 
answered.  No  science  can  claim  that  alP  phenomena  are 
included  within  its  categories ;  above  the  laws  of  phenomena 
that  we  do  see  may  be  other  and  more  subtile  laws  beyond 
our  ken ;  and  in  the  working  of  those  higher  spiritual  laws, 
prayer  may  enter  within  the  plane  of  physical  phenomena 
like  an  eccentric  chuck,  which  shifts  the  centre  without 
impeding  the  motion  or  changing  its  general  direction  or 
area. 

Illustrations  of  spiritual  powers  and  operations  derived 
from  mechanical  instruments,  are  necessarily  coarse  and 
imperfect ;  yet  even  these  may  serve  to  render  abstruse  sub- 
jects more  intelligible.  Connected  with  the  spinning-jenny 
is  an  alarm-bell  that  rings  a  moment  before  the  receiving 
spool  is  filled  with  the  twist,  signaling  to  the  operator  at 
the  opposite  side  of  the  machine  to  come  and  set  an  empty 
spool  in  the  order  of  succession ;  the  next  moment  the 
machinery  itself  cuts  the  thread,  drops  the  full  spool  into  a 
basket,  drops  the  new  spool  into  its  place,  and  begins  to 
wind  as  before.  By  this  contrivance  the  attendance  of  one 
hand  is  dispensed  with,  but  the  contrivance  which  lifts  the 
mechanism  one  grade  nearer  to  the  plane  of  intelligence, 
does  not  thereby  merge  itself  into  the  mechanism,  nor  dis- 
pense with  its  own  superintendence  and  its  power  of  occa- 
sional intervention.  That  signal-bell  answers  to  prayer, 
invoking  the  great  Architect  of  Nature  to  adapt  His  own 
laws  and  combinations  to  some  impending  necessity. 

God,  in  His  forethought  of  events,  may  have  assigned 
to  prayer  the  place  of  a  condition  precedent  to  particular 
results,  so  that  this  also  enters  into  some  law  of  phenomena 
higher  than  our  sciences  can  reach.  Or  there  may  even  be 
in  believing  prayer,  some  subtile  power  of  causation  over 
events  themselves ;  the  true  odic,  or  odyllic  force,  may  be 
centered  here.     But  all  theorizing  upon  the  subject  must 


130  THE   THEOLOGY  OF   CHRIST. 

end  at  last  in  this  bare  statement ;  that  God  has  declared 
that  He  is,  and  will  be,  influenced  by  the  prayer  of  faith. 

But  though  Jesus  taught  that  prayer  is  influential,  as  a 
direct  appeal  to  our  Father  in  heaven,  He  also  announced 
certain  conditions  'upon  which  prayer,  to  be  efficacious,  must 
proceed.     These  are  as  follows, 

a.  The  object  prayed  for  must  be  in  harmony  with  the 
divine  Wisdom  as  seeing,  and  the  divine  Love  as  choosing 
always  that  which  is  best  for  the  suppliant.  Mere  impor- 
tunity ought  not  to  procure  for  us  anything  which  upon  the 
whole  is  not  for  our  good.  "  Thy  will  be  done  "  is  there- 
fore the  governing  clause  in  every  petition,  and  prayer 
should  always  be  offered  in  humble  submission  to  the  will 
of  God.  "  Even  so,  Father,  for  so  it  seemed  good  in  Thy 
sight."1      "Nevertheless,   not   as    I   will,   but   as   Thou 

Wilt."2 

6.  Prayer  must  be  offered  in  faith ;  not  as  an  experi- 
mental essay  with  Providence,  nor  for  the  manipulation  of 
our  own  feelings ;  but  with  the  earnest  conviction  that  the 
thing  we  pray  for  will  be  bestowed,  if,  on  the  whole,  this 
is  best  for  us,  and  if,  under  all  the  circumstances,  this  is 
wisely  possible.  "  All  things,  whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  in 
prayer,  believing,  ye  shall  receive." 3 

c.  In  order  to  successful  prayer  the  tone  of  our  desires 
should  be  supremely  spiritual.  In  praying  for  temporal 
benefits  we  should  have  in  view  chiefly  the  spiritual  benefit 
to  be  attained  through  freedom  from  earthly  anxieties. 
"Seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  His  righteousness; 
and  all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto  you."  4 

d.  Christ  taught  us  to  pray  in  His  name.  That  name 
at  once  expresses  the  love  of  God  to  man,  and  denotes  the 
nearness  of  our  humanity  to  God.  "  Whatsoever  ye 
shall  ask  the  Father  in  My  name,  He  will  give  it  you."5 

1  Matt.  xi.  26.  2  Matt.  xxvi.  39.  s  Matt.  xxi.  22. 

*  Matt.  vi.  33.  6  John  xvi.  23. 


PRAYER   RULES   THE    WORLD.  131 

The  influence  that  Christ  has  ascribed  to  prayer  exalts 
man  to  the  dignity  of  a  spiritual  Power.  Materialism 
would  degrade  man  to  a  slave  of  physical  laws ;  atheism 
would  make  him  the  creature  of  accidents  and  circum- 
stances ;  but  Christianity  enthrones  man  as  a  co-worker 
with  God  in  the  realm  of  spiritual  agencies.  Man's  feeling 
of  dependence  upon  God  is  the  avenue  to  his  power  with 
God.  This  lifts  him  into  the  line  of  those  Providential 
forces  that  rule  the  world.  Thus  it  is  that  "the  kingdom 
and  dominion,  and  the  greatness  of  the  kingdom  under  the 
whole  heaven,  are  given  to  the  people  of  the  saints  of  the 
Most  High."1 

Am  I  truly  a  man  of  prayer?  of  earnest,  believing 
prayer  ?  Then  am  I  more  the  ruler  of  the  world  than 
Alexander  or  Napoleon.  Then  nothing  shall  stand  before 
my  power.  Do  the  wicked  heap  up  oppression,  and  frame 
iniquity  by  a  law  ?  I  go  into  my  closet  and  cry,  "  Arise, 
O  Lord, "  and  presently  the  earth  shakes,  the  heavens 
smoke,  and  Slavery  goes  down  in  a  sea  of  fire  and  blood. 
It  is  I  who  have  overthrown  it,  working  up  yonder  above 
the  clouds,  where  God  meets  my  prayers.  They  who  sit 
in  Paris,  in  London,  in  Berlin,  holding  royal  or  diplomat- 
ic conferences  to  settle  the  future  of  Europe  and  the  East, 
they  who  devise  wars  of  dynasty,  of  ambition  and  conquest, 
must  take  the  man  of  prayer  into  their  counsels ;  for  if 
they  plot  iniquity,  he  will  go  up  into  the  King's  chamber 
and  overthrow  it :  he  will  reach  forth  his  hands  and 
touch  the  springs  that  are  behind  their  armies  and  be- 
neath their  thrones.  When  the  church  shall  fully  use  her 
prerogative  of  prayer  the  kingdom  of  God  will  come  in 
the  demonstration  of  the  Spirit  and  of  power. 

By  the  virtue  that  is  lodged  in  the  prayer  of  faith,  who- 
soever will  may  approximate  himself  to  God  in  character. 
"This  is  the  will  of  God,  even  your  sanctification ; "  and 

1  Daniel  vii.  27. 


132  THE    THEOLOGY    OF    CHRIST. 

he  who  would  be  holy  knows  assuredly  that,  in  every  pe- 
tition for  a  pure  heart,  he  prays  for  that  which  God  would 
have  him  above  all  things  to  possess.  Such  a  longing 
opens  the  heart  to  the  life-forces  of  the  divine  Spirit,  and 
moves  the  soul  upward  toward  God;  yea,  let  one  but  utter 
that  first  lisping  cry  "  God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner,"  and 
no  mountains  can  shut  in  that  cry,  no  clouds  weigh  it  down, 
no  laws  restrain  it : — that  yearning  of  the  soul  after  God 
shall  bring  God  to  the  soul  as  its  Father,  its  Saviour,  its 
Comforter.     "  Lord,  teach  us  how  to  pray.  " 


CHAPTER  XI. 

cheist's  oneness  with  the  father. 

No  teacher  tver  set  forth  himself  so  constantly,  so  promi- 
nently, so  imperatively  as  did  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  offensive 
to  taste,  and  savors  of  vanity  or  presumption,  when  a 
teacher  continually  claims  the  merit  of  originality  or  of 
discovery,  and  exacts  of  his  disciples  homage  to  his  person, 
his  wisdom,  or  his  opinions.  Yet  with  Christ,  "I  say 
unto  you,"  was  the  preface  to  every  discourse,  sometimes 
to  almost  every  sentence;  "  believe  Me,"  "  receive  Me,"  the 
demand  made  upon  the  hearer  not  only  as  a  test  of  dis- 
ciplcship,  but  as  the  evidence  of  love  for  truth  and  for  God, 
and  the  necessary  condition  of  eternal  life.  He  summed 
up  His  whole  teaching  in  that  memorable  saying,  "I 
am  the  Way,  and  the  Truth,  and  the  Life :" l — not  I 
show  the  way,  but  I  Myself  am  the  way ;  not  I  teach  the 
Truth,  but  I  am  Myself  the  truth ;  not  I  give  or  promise 
life,  or  will  lead  My  followers  unto  life,  but  I  am  the  life : — ■ 
and  though  God  requires  all  men  to  come  unto  Him,  and 
is  seeking  and  calling  them  by  all  the  methods  of  His 
providence  and  His  grace,  "no  man  cometh  unto  the 
Father,  but  by  Me." 

But  the  marvel  of  His  character  is,  that  with  all  this 
preaching  of  Himself,  this  constant  repeating  of  I  and  Me, 
there  is  in  the  sayings  of  Jesus  no  tone  of  egotism,  no  air 
of  presumption,  no  trace  of  that  form  of  self-assertion  which 
suggests  pride  or  vanity  in  the  speaker,  or  offends  the 
taste  or  judgment  of  the  hearer.     As  a  psychological  phe- 

1  John  xiv.  6. 

133 


134  THE   THEOLOGY   OF    CHRIST. 

nomenon  this  calls  for  explanation.  Why  is  it  that  we  not 
only  tolerate  from  the  lips  of  Jesus,  but  receive  with  rever- 
ence, assertions  and  demands  concerning  Himself  that  in 
any  other  would  be  an  offensive  arrogance  ? 

This  is  not  simply  because  of  the  force  and  moment  of 
the  truth  He  utters ;  for  though  one  who  announces  a  new 
and  important  truth  is  entitled  to  have  his  name  stand  in 
honorable  association  with  that  truth,  yet  we  could  not 
endure  that  he  should  be  always  setting  himself  before  the 
truth  and  demanding  that  it  should  be  received  in  hw 
name.  Had  Newton  insisted  upon  the  perpetual  recogni- 
tion of  himself  as  the  discoverer  of  the  law  of  gravitation, 
his  vanity  would  have  detracted  from  his  fame.  Truth  is 
greater  than  any  man.  Yet  Jesus  said  "  I  am  the  Truth," 
and  men  are  not  staggered  by  even  so  bold  a  form  of  self- 
assertion. 

Mr.  Liddon,  in  his  Bampton  lectures,  has  grouped  to- 
gether in  a  striking  manner  these  personal  assertions  and 
claims  of  Jesus  in  His  teachings.  "  He  distinctly,  repeated- 
ly, energetically  preaches  Himself.  He  is  the  Bread  of 
life.  He  is  the  living  Bread  that  came  down  from  heaven : 
believers  in  Him  will  feed  on  Him  and  will  have  eternal 
life.  He  points  to  a  living  water  of  the  Spirit,  which  He 
can  give,  and  which  will  quench  the  thirst  of  souls  that 
drink  it.  All  who  came  before  Him  He  characterizes  as 
having  been  by  comparison  with  Himself,  the  thieves  and 
robbers  of  mankind.  He  is  Himself  the  one  Good  Shep- 
herd of  the  souls  of  men.  He  knows  and  He  is  known  of 
His  true  sheep.  Not  only  is  He  the  Shepherd,  He  is  the 
very  door  of  the  sheepfold.  To  enter  through  Him  is  to 
be  safe.  He  is  the  Vine,  the  Life-tree  of  regenerate  hu- 
manity. All  that  is  truly  fruitful  and  lovely  in  the  human 
family  must  branch  forth  from  Him ;  all  spiritual  life 
must  wither  and  die  if  it  be  severed  from  His.  He  stands 
consciously  between   earth   and  heaven.      He  claims  to  be 


CHRIST! 3    PERSONAL    DEMANDS.  135 

the  One  Means  of  a  real  approach  to  the  invisible  God  : 
no  soul  of  man  can  come  to  the  Father  but  through  Him. 
He  promises  that  ail  prayers  offered  in  His  name  shall  be 
answered;  if  ye  ask  anything  in  my  name,  /will  do  it.  . 
He  claims  to  be  the  Lord  of  the  realm  of  death  ;  He  will 
Himself  awake  the  sleeping  dead ;  all  that  are  in  their 
graves  shall  hear  His  voice.  He  will  raise  Himself  from 
the  dead.  He  proclaims,  '  I  am  the  Resurrection  and  the 
Life.'  He  encourages  men  to  trust  in  Him  as  they  trust 
in  God:  to  make  Him  an  object  of  faith  just  as  they  be- 
lieve in  God ;  to  honor  Him  as  they  honor  the  Father. 
To  love  Him  is  a  necessary  mark  of  the  children  of  God  ; 
if  God  were  your  Father,  ye  would  have  loved  Me.  It  is 
not  possible  to  love  God,  and  yet  to  hate  Himself.  He 
that  hatetli  Me,  hateth  My  Father  also.  The  proof  of  a  true 
love  to  Him  lies  in  doing  His  bidding :  if  ye  love  Me 
keep  My  commandments.  .  .  All  radiates  from  Himself, 
all  converges  toward  Himself.  ....  He  commands,  He 
does  not  invite  discipleship.  .  .  .  His  message  is  to  be  re- 
ceived upon  pain  of  eternal  loss,  and  in  receiving  it  men 
are  to  give  themselves  up  to  Him  simply  and  unreservedly. 
JSTo  rival  claim,  however  strong,  no  natural  affection,  how- 
ever legitimate  and  sacred,  may  interpose  between  Him- 
self and  the  soul  of  His  follower.  He  that  loveth  father 
or  mother  more  than  Me  is  not  worthy  of  Me.  How  can 
Christ  thus  bid  men  live  for  Himself  as  for  the  very  end 
of  their  existence  ?  How  can  He  rightly  draw  toward 
Himself  the  whole  thought  and  love  even  of  one  single 
human  being,  with  this  imperious  urgency,  if  He  be  any- 
thing else  or  less  than  the  Supreme  Lcrd  of  life.  "  * 

This  manner  of  Christ  is  an  index  to  Plis  doctrine  con- 
cerning Himself.  If  He  had  nothing  back  of  a  human 
consciousness  upon  which  to  base  such  assertions,  was  He 

1  This  same  thought  is  admirably  presented  by  Rev.  T.  Binney,  cf  London, 
in  his  "  Sermons  of  Forty  Years." 


136  THE    THEOLOGY    OF    CHRIST. 

not  more  visionary  than  wise  ?  So  far  from  being  the  way 
and  the  truth,  was  He  not  either  misled  or  misleading? 
Underlying  His  whole  teaching  there  is  a  claim  of  per- 
sonal supremacy,  of  absolute  authority,  of  perfection  in 
knowledge  and  truth,  of  lordship  over  the  soul,  of  dominion 
over  life  and  death — a  tone  of  self-assertion  in  respect  to 
things  upon  which  no  man  has  a  right  to  be  confident  of 
his  own  wisdom  and  power,  which  can  not  be  reconciled 
with  modesty,  with  truth,  or  with  soundness  of  judgment, 
if  He  who  thus  proclaimed  Himself  the  Way,  the  Truth 
and  the  Life,  was  simply  a  wiser  and  better  sort  of  man 
than  His  fellows.  Separated  from  Himself  His  words  lose 
their  meaning.  The  subject  of  His  preaching  was  Himself 
to  such  a  degree  that  neither  doctrine  nor  life  remains  in 
His  words  apart  from  His  own  personality.  But  the 
words  of  Jesus  are  pervaded  with  the  consciousness  of  His 
divine  Sonship  which  gives  Him  right  to  speak  with  abso- 
lute confidence  and  authority. 

This  doctrine,  however,  is  not  a  mere  inference  from  the 
manner  in  which  Christ  summoned  the  people  to  trust  in 
Himself.  He  distinctly  taught  that  He  was  the  Son  of 
God,  the  representative  of  the  Father  upon  earth,  His 
associate  and  equal  in  heaven.  He  allowed  Himself  to  be 
addressed  by  this  title  without  objection  or  qualification  of 
any  kind.  At  the  opening  of  His  ministry,  when  Jesus 
was  calling  disciples  one  by  one,  Nathanael,  struck  with 
His  knowledge  of  the  heart,  exclaimed,  "  Rabbi,  Thou  art 
the  Son  of  God."  l  In  the  hearing  of  the  rest,  Jesus  suf- 
fered this  title  to  pass  unchallenged,  and  not  only  so,  but 
He  assured  JNTathanael,  who  had  confessed  this  faith  from 
his  own  inward  conviction,  that  he  should  hereafter  behold 
the  outward  visible  confirmation  of  it,  in  the  heavens 
opened,  and  the  angels  of  God  ascending  and  descending 
upon  Him  who  there  stood  in  the  garb  of  the  Son  of  Man. 

1  John  i.  49. 


CHRIST    REVEALED    HIMSELF    GRADUALLY.  137 

Thus  the  seeming  contrast  of  the  two  titles,  "  Son  of 
God  "  and  "  Son  of  Man,"  points  to  the  real  unity  of  their 
subject — the  true  Humanity  and  the  divine  Sonship  being 
offset  in  terms  or  titles  only,  as  two  diverse  aspects  of  the 
same  person.  Jesus  did  not  disclaim  the  title,  "  Son  of 
God  "  which  Nathanael  gave,  and  employ  the  phrase  "  Son 
of  Man  "  as  a  substitute  for  that ;  on  the  contrary,  He  ac- 
cepted this,  and  virtually  approved  it,  as  a  declaration  of 
faith  from  His  new  disciple  :  "  Because  I  said  unto  thee,  I 
saw  thee  under  the  fig  tree,  believest  thou?"  This  mirac- 
ulous vision,  with  the  attendant  knowledge  of  his  heart 
and  life  on  the  part  of  an  utter  stranger,  had  impressed 
Kathanael  with  the  conviction  that  this  new  prophet  was 
the  Son  of  God.  Nathanael  may  have  had  only  the  vague 
Jewish  notion  touching  the  Messiah  as  the  Son  of  God ; 
yet  his  acknowledgment  being  based  upon  the  supernatural 
knowledge  that  Jesus  had  shown,  pointed  to  something 
deeper  than  an  official  title ;  and  the  answTer  was,  "  Thou 
shalt  see  greater  things  than  these  " — shalt  even  have  the 
witness  of  angels  from  heaven  that  I  am  He. 

It  was  not,  however,  the  plan  of  Jesus  to  proclaim  His 
divinity  openly  at  the  first.  He  sought  to  put  Himself 
into  thorough  sympathy  with  mankind  and  to  draw  them 
into  confidential  relations  through  His  own  hearty  human- 
ity ;  and  He  desired  also  to  test  the  sincerity  of  men  in 
spiritual  things  by  opening  His  divinity  to  the  discovery 
of  their  faith.  He  did  not  first  approach  them  upon  the 
side  of  wonder  and  awre  by  declaring  His  Godhead,  nor  by 
manifesting  it  through  marvels  addressed  to  the  senses  ; 
but  upon  the  side  of  love  and  compassion,  through  the 
lowliness  and  tenderness  of  a  common  humanity,  from 
which  by  degrees  He  lifted  them  up  to  discern  in  His 
Dwn  works  and  words  the  tokens  of  His  divine  Sonship.* 

A  mode  of  revealing  Himself  so  wisely  adapted  for  test- 
ing His  true  character  and  also  for  educating  the  faith  of 


138  THE   THEOLOGY    OF    CHRIST. 

His  followers,  led  Jesus  at  the  first  to  speak  of  Himself  as 
the  "  Son  of  Man  "  instead  of  openly  proclaiming  Himself 
the  "  Son  of  God."  But  if  the  latter  title  were  not  His 
by  the  same  right  as  the  former,  how  can  we  reconcile  His 
accepting  this  from  others,  with  the  modesty  of  using  the 
inferior  title,  and  with  the  honesty  that  marks  His  whole 
soeech  and  life  ?  He  permitted  Himself  to  be  called  the 
"  Son  of  God  "  well  knowing  that  this  was  intended  to  be 
an  ascription  of  divinity,  and  under  circumstances  that 
were  equivalent  to  His  proclaiming  His  divinity.  It  is 
not  claimed  that  the  appellation  "  Son  of  God  "  is  itself 
decisive  of  the  divinity  of  Christ — for  this  was  a  Jewish 
title  of  the  Messiah,  the  Anointed ;  but  it  was  given  to 
Jesus  and  accepted  by  Him  as  a  token  of  Divinity.  The 
question  is  purely  one  of  exegesis,  to  be  determined  by  a 
careful  annotation  of  the  passages  in  which  the  title  occurs. 
It  is  applied  to  Jesus  twenty-five  times  in  the  four  Gospels, 
several  of  these,  however,  being  but  repetitions  of  the  same 
cases  or  incidents. 

a.  Jesus  was  accosted  as  "  the  Son  of  God  "  by  Satan 
and  by  other  inferior  demons. 1  Perhaps  in  these  cases  the 
conception  of  the  Messiah  as  the  King  of  the  Jews, 
anointed  of  God  as  His  vicegerent  in  the  world,  will  ex- 
haust the  meaning.  '  In  Luke  iv.  41,  for  instance,  the 
name  Christ  is  given  as  the  equivalent  of  this  epithet; 
"  Devils  came  out  of  many,  crying  out,  and  saying,  Thou 
art  Christ,  the  Son  of  God.  And  He  rebuking  them,  suf- 
fered them  not  to  speak:  for  they  knew  that  He  was 
Christ."  But  on  the  other  hand,  the  exclamation  of  the 
demons  in  the  country  of  the  Gergesenes,  "  Art  thou  come 
hither  to  torment  us  before  the  time  ?"  seems  to  imply  a 
recognition  of  His  divine  power  and  authority.  They  ap- 
prehended banishment  from  earth  to  hell,  from  opportuni- 
ties of  mischief  to  the  unmitigated  endurance  of  punish- 

l  Matt.  iv.  3,  6  ;  viii.  29  ;    Mark  iii.  11 ;  v.  7 ;  Luke  iv.  3,  9,  41 ;  viii.  28. 


MEANING   OF   "  SON   OF   GOD."  139 

ment,  before  the  final  judgment;  and  they  ascribed  to  Jesus 
the  power  so  to  order  their  destiny. 

6.  In  a  few  instances  this  title  was  used  by  the  enemies 
of  Jesus,  by  way  of  taunt  or  sneer ; — as  for  instance  when 
passers  by  reviled  Him  as  He  hung  upon  the  cross,  wag- 
ging their  heads,  and  saying,  "  If  Thou  be  the  Son  of  God, 
come  down  from  the  cross."  1  The  full  force  of  such  a 
taunt,  and  the  miraculous  power  of  self-preservation  which 
the  challenge  implied,  would  seem  to  attach  the  notion  of 
divinity  to  the  epithet  "  Son  of  God." 

c.  The  same  interpretation  must  be  put  upon  the  excla- 
mation of  the  centurion  and  his  brother  soldiers,  "  Truly 
this  was  the  Son  of  God."  2  A  Roman  soldier  accustomed 
to  despise  the  Jews,  could  have  no  sympathy  with  their 
expectation  of  a  Messiah,  and  if  he  had  heard  from  the  lips 
of  Jews  the  title  "Son  of  God,"  he  could  hardly  have 
attached  to  it  their  peculiar  theocratic  signification.  But  a 
Roman  of  that  time,  and  a  soldier  withal,  would  be  suscep- 
tible to  superstitious  fears  touching  the  gods  as  manifesting 
themselves  in  supernatural  phenomena ;  and  when  he  saw 
the  earthquake,  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  and  the  other 
marvels  that  attended  the  death  of  Jesus,  filled  with  awe 
of  these  miraculous  signs,  he  cried  out,  "  Truly  this  was  the 
Son  of  God."  That  title  had  just  fallen  upon  his  ears  in 
the  taunts  of  passers  by ;  he  takes  it  up  with  the  emphasis 
of  truth,  and  gives  it  not  their  meaning  but  his  own;  and 
from  his  point  of  view  it  would  signify  a  divine  person. 

d.  The  High  Priest  used  this  title  in  the  Messianic  sense 
when  he  said  to  Jesus,  "  I  adjure  Thee  by  the  living  God, 
that  Thou  tell  us  whether  Thou  be  the  Christ,  the  Son  of 
God." 3  This  was  a  title  of  honor  based  upon  the  usage 
of  the  Old  Testament  touching  the  ideal  theocratic  king 
as  the  anointed  Son  of  God.  Thus  the  Lord  promised  to 
David  concerning  Solomon,  "  I  will  be  his  Father  and  he 

1  Mat.  xxvii.  40,  43.  2  Mat.  xxvii.  51;     Mark  xv.  39.         3  Mat.  xxvi.  63. 


140  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

shall  be  My  son." x  And  in  the  second  Psalm  the  anointed 
of  the  Lord  is  exalted  above  all  kings  and  peoples :  "  I 
have  set  My  King  upon  My  holy  hill  of  Zion.  Thou  art 
My  Son,  this  day  have  I  begotten  Thee." 2  This  usage  of 
the  Old  Testament  interprets  the  current  language  of  the 
Jews  in  the  time  of  Jesus,  concerning  the  Christ  as  the 
Son  of  God ; — He  was  the  ideal  theocratic  king.  Yet  even 
in  the  second  Psalm,  He  is  not  declared  a  Son  simply  by 
virtue  of  His  being  constituted  a  king,  but  is  anointed 
king  because  upon  other  grounds  of  divine  favor  He  was 
already  the  chosen  Son  : — the  Sonship  preceded  the  King- 
ship. It  is  evident  from  the  narrative  as  given  with  so 
much  detail  by  John,  that  the  blind  man  to  whom  Jesus 
gave  sight  had  only  the  current  Jewish  conception  of  the 
Son  of  God  as  the  Christ.3 

e.  We  come  now  to  the  use  of  this  title  by  the  disciples 
of  Jesus,  as  an  index  to  their  conception  of  His  character. 
Though  Nathanael  may  have  used  the  titles  "  Son  of  God  " 
and  "King  of  Israel"  as  equivalent,  John  the  Baptist  at- 
tached to  the  former  a  deeper  meaning,  when  he  saw  and 
bare  record  that  "this  is  the  Son  of  God."4  John  ac- 
knowledged the  pre-existence  of  Jesus  as  the  warrant  of 
His  pre-eminence  ;  "He  that  cometh  after  Me,  is  preferred 
before  Me;  for  He  was  before  Me;"5  and  as  "the  only 
begotten  Son,  which  is  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father,  He  de- 
clared God,  whom  no  man  at  anytime  hath  seen."6  The 
title  "  Son  of  God, "  based  upon  this  recognition  of  His 
origin  and  functions,  denotes  something  higher  than  an 
honorary  distinction  of  office — some  relation  to  God  Him- 
self that  was  peculiar  and  pre-eminent.  The  deep  signifi- 
cance of  this  relation  appears  in  that  tender  reference  to  the 
"only-begotten"  which  closes  the  discourse  with  Nicode- 
mus ; — "  For  God  so   loved  the  world  that  He  gave  His 

i  2  Saml.  vii.  14.    «  Ps.  ii.  6,  7.    s  John  ix.  35,  36. 
<Johni.  3i.  5 John  i.  15.    6 John  i.  18. 


JESUS   CLAIMED   DIVINE   POWERS.  141 

only-begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  Him,  should 
not  perish  but  have  everlasting  life."1 

The  disciples  on  board  the  ship  in  the  tempestuous  night, 
when  they  saw  Jesus  walking  on  the  sea ; 2  Martha  in  her 
confidence  that  Jesus  might  have  saved  her  brother,  and 
her  wondering  hope  of  his  resurrection  ; 3  Peter  asserting 
the  constancy  of  the  twelve  after  the  multitude  of  disciples 
had  turned  back ; 4 — these  all  rested  their  confession  of 
Jesus  as  "the  Son  of  God"  upon  some  token  of  divinity 
that  gleamed  through  His  words  or  acts ; — the  winds  and 
the  waves  obeyed  Him,  He  had  power  over  diseases  and 
death,  He  had  the  words  of  eternal  life.  Thus  the  disci- 
ples, Jews  though  they  were,  and  imbued  with  the  Jewish 
doctrine  of  the  Messiah,  appear  to  have  attached  to  the 
name  "Son  of  God"  a  meaning  higher  than  any  official 
title  would  convey. 

/.  It  only  remains  that  we  consider  the  cases  in  which 
Jesus  spoke  of  Himself  as  the  Son  of  God,  and  of  His  one- 
ness with  the  Father.  There  were  undoubted  instances  in 
which  He  used  this  name  not  as  designating  His  official 
calling,  but  as  expressing  an  unparalleled  personal  relation 
with  God.5  "Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you  the  hour  is 
coming  and  now  is,  when  the  dead  shall  hear  the  voice 
of  the  Son  of  God ;  and  they  that  hear  shall  live.  For 
as  the  Father  hath  life  in  Himself,  so  hath  He  given  to 
the  Son  to  have  life  in  Himself."6  Jesus  here  claimed  for 
Himself  the  most  essential  property  of  divinity — life  in 
self-possession  and  the  power  and  prerogative  of  impart- 
ing life  to  others.  This  power  He  put  forth  in  raising 
Lazarus  from  the  grave,  when  He  purposely  kept  aloof 
until  Lazarus  was  dead,  saying,  "This  sickness  is  not 
unto  death,  but  for  the  glory  of  God,  that  the  Son  of 
God  might  be  glorified  thereby."7     Here  He  associated 

'Johniii.  16.    *  Matt  xiv.  33.   3  John  xi.  27.    *  John  vi.  69. 
*Matt.  xxi.  37.         6  j0hn  v.  25,  26.         '  John  xi.  4. 


142  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CPIRIST. 

Himself  with  the  Father  in  the  glory  that  would  ensue 
from  a  miracle  evidencing  the  highest  property  of  divinity 
to  be  vested  in  Himself. 

In  the  parable  of  the  wicked  husbandmen  He  separated 
Himself  from  all  the  servants  of  God  who  had  been  sent 
before,  as  the  son  and  heir,  who,  because  of  this  immediate 
relationship  to  the  householder,  was  deserving  of  a  peculiar 
reverence.1  Again,  in  speaking  of  His  second  Advent,  He 
contrasted  the  Son  of  God  with  both  men  and  angels:  "Of 
that  day  and  ttiat  hour  knoweth  no  man,  no,  not  the  angels 
which  are  in  heaven,  neither  the  Son,  but  the  Father." 2 
Whoever  the  Son  was,  He  was  distinct  from  men,  and 
above  the  angels ;  for  He  was  clearly  and  absotutely  con- 
trasted with  both,  not  here  in  respect  of  knowledge,  but  in 
degree  as  a  being.  The  gradation  is,  "  no  man,"  no  "  an- 
gel," not  even  the  Son.     Who  then  was  He  ? 

The  Jews  of  that  time  understood  Jesus  to  claim  equali- 
ty with  God  by  His  manner  of  speaking  of  His  Father. 
After  He  had  healed  the  impotent  man  at  the  pool  of 
Bethesda,  the  Jews  sought  to  slay  Him,  because  He  had 
done  these  things  on  the  Sabbath-day.  Jesus  answered 
them  "  My  Father  worketh  hitherto,  and  I  work."  God 
Himself,  who  has  proclaimed  the  Sabbath  as  a  hallowed 
rest,  though  He  has  ceased  from  His  work  of  creation,  con- 
tinues, nevertheless,  His  work  of  beneficence,  in  caring  for 
the  world ;  and  I  do  as  my  Father  does.  Now  if  Jesus 
were  only  man,  this  same  argument  would  have  exonerated 
every  pious  Jew  from  keeping  the  Sabbath  according  to 
the  law  of  Moses  ;  but  as,  on  another  occasion,  He  declared 
that  "  the  Son  of  Man  is  Lord  even  of  the  Sabbath-day," 3 
so  here  He  associated  Himself  with  God  in  the  right  and 
reason  of  His  action,  and  rested  His  authority  to  "work" 
upon  the  Sabbath-day  on  His  prerogative  as  the  Son  of 
God.      His  accusers  resented  this  as  a  claim  of  divinity, 

1  Matt.  xxi.  37.  2  Mark  xiii.  32.  3  Matt.  xii.  8. 


cueist's  claim  was  not  blasphemy.  143 

and  "they  sought  the  more  to  kill  Him,  because  He  not 
only  had  broken  the  Sabbath,  but  said  also  that  God  was 
His  Father,  making  Himse7/ equal  with  God" l 

Though  in  common  speech  they  may  have  used  the  title 
Son  of  God  to  designate  the  Messiah  in  His  official  charac- 
ter, yet  they  understood  Jesus  to  use  it  as  denoting  sonship 
in  essence  and  in  dignity — equality  with  God  in  being  and 
in  power.  If  in  this  charge  His  accusers  were  perverting 
His  meaning,  Jesus  had  every  reason,  personal  and  public, 
for  correcting  the  misunderstanding.  His  life  was  in  dan- 
ger, and  He  could  have  pacified  His  enemies  by  denying 
their  construction  of  His  words  :  He  desired  a  hearing  for 
His  message,  and  this  He  might  have  hoped  for  by  allay- 
ing such  a  blind  and  passionate  prejudice.  But  instead  of 
rejecting  their  interpretation  of  His  words  and  disclaiming 
the  thought  of  equality  with  God,  He  went  on  to  say  that 
as  the  Son  of  God  His  thoughts  and  actions  were  identical 
with  those  of  the  Father ;  that  He  possessed  the  power  of 
the  Father,  even  to  raising  the  dead  and  judging  the 
world;  that  even  as  the  Father,  He  had  life  in  Himself; 
and  He  summed  up  the  discourse  with  the  demand  "  that 
all  men  should  honor  the  Son  even  as  they  honor  the 
Father."  The  logic  of  this  whole  argument  depends  upon 
the  fact  that  Jesus  admitted  and  justified  the  claim  of 
equality  with  God  which  the  Jews  had  attached  to  His 
words. 

For  a  man  to  put  forth  such  a  pretension  was  blas- 
phemy ;  and  the  Jews  more  than  once  accused  Jesus  of  this 
crime,  and  sought  to  stone  Him  to  death.  On  one  occa- 
sion, at  the  feast  of  the  dedication,  the  Jews  said  to  Him, 
"  If  thou  be  the  Christ,  tell  us  plainly."  To  this  Ha  an- 
swered, "  The  works  I  do  in  my  Father's  name,  they  bear 
witness  of  Me." 2  In  so.  far  as  the  title  "  Son  of  God  " 
was  an  equivalent  for  "  the  Christ,"  this  answer  could  not 

1  John  v.  18.  2  John  x.  24,25. 


144  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

have  exposed  Him  to  the  charge  of  blasphemy.  That  the 
Christ  should  speak  of  God  as  the  Father  whom  He  repre- 
sented in  His  official  character,  and  should  appeal  to  works 
done  in  the  Father's  name,  was  legitimate,  and  in  accord- 
ance with  the  Jewish  notion  of  the  Messiah.  But  Jesus 
went  farther  than  this,  and  having  declared  His  own  abso- 
lute power  over  His  sheep,  even  to  the  giving  them  eternal 
life,  He  rose  to  the  sublime  assertion,  "  /  and  my  Father 
are  One." 1  At  this  the  Jews  took  up  stones  to  stone  Him 
for  blasphemy,  "  because,"  said  they,  "  that  Thou  being  a 
man,  makest  Thyself  God."  The  gravamen  of  the  offense 
was  that  "  being  a  man  "  He  made  Himself  God,  by  assert- 
ing that  He  and  His  Father  were  one ;  but  there  would 
have  been  no  blasphemy  in  claiming  a  moral  unity  with 
the  Father  through  His  representative  character  and  com- 
mission as  the  Christ. 

Jesus  might  have  refuted  the  charge  of  blasphemy  in 
either  of  two  ways : — by  showing  that  His  words  did  not 
admit  of  the  construction  that  His  accusers  had  put  upon 
them ;  or  by  declaring  that  He  was  truly  divine,  and  there- 
fore not  guilty  of  blasphemy  in  making  Himself  God.  He 
did  not  seek  to  parry  their  construction,  but  proceeded  to 
justify  His  words  by  an  argument  from  the  less  to  the 
greater.  Reminding  them  that  in  their  Scriptures  judges 
were  called  "  gods  "  as  the  organs  of  the  divine  word  and 
will,  He  claimed  that  He  could  literally  appropriate  the 
title  "  Son  of  God  "  in  its  full  meaning,  because  the  Father 
had  sanctified  Him  and  sent  Him  into  the  world.  Then 
once  more  appealing  to  His  works,  He  reiterated  the  asser- 
tion of  oneness  with  God — "  the  Father  in  Me,  and  I  in 
Him."  So  far  were  the  Jews  from  being  convinced  or 
pacified  by  His  answer,  that  they  sought  again  to  take  Him, 
that  they  might  visit  upon  Him  the  punishment  of  blas- 
phemy. 

The  charge  of  blasphemy  became  a  conclusive  proof  that 

1  John  x.  22  ieq. 


CHRIST   ONE   IN   ESSENCE   WITH    GOD.  145 

He  meant  to  assert  His  own  divinity,  when,  at  His  trial, 
He  not  only  suffered  this  charge  to  be  revived  without 
contradicting  or  explaining  it,  but  re-affirmed  His  Sonship 
under  that  construction  of  His  meaning.  When  Pilate 
declared  that  he  found  Jesus  guilty  of  no  offense  against 
Roman  law,  the  Jews  cried  out,  "  We  have  a  law,  and  by 
our  law  He  ought  to  die,  because  He  made  Himself  the 
Son  of  God."  l  The  law  referred  to  was  that  against  blas- 
phemy. 2  A  claim  to  be  the  Christ  would  not  have  been 
blasphemy,  but  only  imposture  or  enthusiasm;  to  have 
rendered  it  blasphemous  to  assume  the  title  "  Son  of  God," 
that  title  must  have  signified  divinity  itself.  But  Jesus 
declined  to  vindicate  Himself  from  this  charge.  Now 
there  was  no  humility  in  remaining  quiet  under  so  horrible 
an  accusation,  when  by  a  word  He  could  have  denied  the 
intention  of  blasphemy  in  His  use  of  the  phrase  Son  of 
God ;  yet,  when  He  stood  before  the  Sanhedrim,  the  High 
Priest  adjured  Him  by  the  living  God  to  answer  whether 
He  was  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God.  Jesus  not  only  an- 
swered affirmatively,  "Thou  hast  said,"  but  went  on  to 
proclaim  His  "  coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven,  sitting  on 
the  right  hand  of  power." 3  Thereupon  the  High  Priest 
rent  his  clothes,  saying,  "  He  hath  spoken  blasphemy,"  and 
for  blasphemy  they  found  Him  "  guilty  of  death." 

Clearly  the  title  Son  of  God  was  understood  to  denote 
participation  in  the  divine  nature,  and  equality  of  essence 
with  God  ;  and  Jesus,  knowing  that  this  title  was  so  under- 
stood, consented  to  receive  it,  and  used  it  of  Himself;  and 
when  charged  with  blasphemy  for  making  Himself  equal 
with  God,  He  did  not  deny  that  He  claimed  equality  with 
God,  but  did  deny  that  this  was  blasphemy  or  presumption, 
and  insisted  that  He  and  His  Father  were  one.  Either 
then  He  had  within  Him  the  consciousness  of  divinity,  or 
He  was  a  demented  enthusiast. 

1  John  xix.  7.  -  Lev.  xxiv.  10.  8  Matt.  xxvi.  63-65. 

10 


146  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

This  oneness  with  the  Father  which  Jesus  constantly 
affirmed  as  the  testimony  of  His  own  consciousness,  was 
not  merely  a  moral  unity — oneness  in  spirit  and  feeling, 
or  unity  of  action,  for  the  same  object,  upon  the  same 
plan — but  a  oneness  that  made  it  impossible  for  Him  to 
act  as  in  any  way  separate  from  God.  "  The  Son  can  do 
nothing  of  Himself."  *  This,  says  Bengel,2  "  is  a  feature 
of  glory,  not  of  imperfection ;  such  declarations  proceeded 
from  His  intimate  sense  of  unity,  by  nature  and  by  love, 
with  the  Father."  The  Son  can  do  nothing  of  Himself, 
not  because  He  is  wanting  in  power,  or  inferior  and  de- 
pendent in  His  nature,  but  because  His  Being  is  insepar- 
able from  that  of  the  Father.  The  "can  do  nothing"  is  a 
moral  inability  based  in  the  will  of  the  Son. 3  "Whatever 
the  Father  does,  that  the  Son  does,  with  the  same  power 
and  the  same  intent.  His  sheep  shall  never  perish,  for 
none  shall  pluck  them  out  of  His  hand, — no  more  than 
they  would  be  able  to  pluck  them  out  of  His  Father's  hand. 
Having  thus  asserted  His  own  omnipotence,  in  the  same 
terms  in  which  He  declared  the  omnipotence  of  the  Father, 
He  added  "  I  and  my  Father  are  one  :" — one,  not  merely 
in  agreement  of  will,  but  in  unity  of  power,  and  so  of 
nature ;  for  omnipotence  is  an  attribute  of  the  nature  of 
God. 4  It  was  for  this  that  the  Jews  said  "  Thou  mahest 
thyself  God!"  The  Father  is  in  the  Son;  the  Father 
worketh  in  the  Son ;  and  this  with  a  unity  so  perfect  and 
continuous  that  the  Son  who  puts  forth  divine  power  in  the 
view  of  men,  is  not  a  being  extraneous  to  God,  but  in  essen- 
tial nature,  the  source  of  working  power,  is  One  with  God. 
His  sonship  was  a  relation  to  the  Father  that  could  be 
shared  by  no  other.  "  No  man  knoweth  the  Son,  but  the 
Father;  neither  knoweth  any  man  the  Father  save  the 
Son,  and  he  to  whomsoever  the  Son  will  reveal  Him."  5 

1  John  v.  19.     2  "Hoc  glorias  est,  non  impcrfeetionis."    Bengel,  Gnomon  in  loc. 
z  Tholuok,  in  loc.        *  Bengel,  Gnomon,  John  x.  30.         *  Mat.  xi.  27. 


JESUS   A   DIVINE   INCARNATION.  147 

"  If  a  man  love  Me,  My  Father  will  love  him,  and  we 
will  come  unto  him,  and  make  our  abode  with  him." 1 

In  answer  to  Philip's  desire  to  behold  a  theophany  after 
the  manner  of  the  Old  Testament,  Jesus  said,  "  He  that 
hath  seen  Me  hath  seen  the  Father,"  2 — "  by  reason  of  the 
consummate  unity  which  subsists  between  us,  just  as  the 
soul,  in  itself  invisible,  is  seen  by  what  it  does  through  the 
body."  3 

The  prayer  of  Jesus,  "O  Father,  glorify  Thou  Me  with 
Thine  own  Self,  with  the  glory  which  I  had  with  Thee  be- 
fore the  world  was" — expresses  the  consciousness  that  Jesus 
had  of  Himself  as  an  incarnation,  and  of  His  eternal  pre- 
existence  with  the  Father.  He  does  not  say,  the  glory 
that  I  received  from  Thee,  by  promise,  at  My  coming  into 
the  world,  but  the  glory  which  i"  had,  ziyov,  with  Thine 
own  Self,  in  a  unity  of  participation  with  the  Godhead, 
before  that  the  world  was.  "  He  always  was  having  it, 
was  in  possession  of  it;  He  never  began  to  have  it."  4  In 
this  utterance,  surely,  He  made  Himself  God. 

The  testimony  of  Jesus  concerning  Himself,  though  it 
nowhere  gives  us  the  doctrine  of  His  divinity  in  the  form 
of  a  philosophical  concept,  nevertheless  makes  it  clear  that 
the  doctrine  of  a  divine  consciousness  in  Christ  was  not  the 
invention  of  a  later  philosophy  in  the  Church,  but  is  given 
in  the  synoptical  Gospels,  as  well  as  in  the  more  dialectical 
Gospel  of  John,  as  it  fell  from  the  lips  of  Christ ;  so  that 
we  must  agree  with  Dorner,  that  "  all  genuine  historical 
investigation  presses  to  the  result  that  the  founder  of  our 
religion  was  Himself,  through  His  own  Self-consciousness, 
and  the  utterance  of  that  to  others,  the  cause  at  once  of  the 
introduction  into  the  minds  of  men  of  the  Christian  idea 
of  the  God-man,  and  of  the  attribution  of  that  to  Him."  5 

1  John  xiv.  23.         2  John  xiv.  9.         3  Bengel,  Gnomon,  John  xiv.  9. 
4  Bengel,  John  xvii.  5.     '  Dorner,  Doctrine  of  the  Person  of  Christ.  Intn.  p.  45. 


148  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

The  apostles  did  not  invent  this  doctrine  to  magnify  their 
Lord  after  His  decease ;  they  were  slow  at  first  in  coming 
to  the  recognition  of  His  divinity  under  the  veil  of  His 
humiliation  ;  though  they  confessed  Him  to  be  the  Son  of 
God,  this  faith  was  shaken  for  a  time  by  His  yielding 
Himself  to  death  ;  yet  it  came  back,  after  His  resurrection, 
and  then  Jesus  sealed  it  by  accepting  the  homage  of 
Thomas,  who  atoned  for  his  momentary  unbelief  by  the 
full  glowing  confession  "  My  Lord  and  My  God."  l  By 
consenting  to  receive  that  declaration,  Jesus  warranted 
our  implicit  belief  in  the  divinity  of  His  person. 

The  question  here  is  not  at  all  whether  Thomas,  by  the 
elasticity  of  an  enthusiastic  nature,  had  vibrated  from  the 
extreme  of  skepticism  to  that  of  credulity.  If  Thomas 
was  deluded  into  such  a  confession,  what  shall  we  say  of 
Jesus,  who  not  only  did  not  disclaim  it,  but  openly  re- 
ceived it  as  His  due,  and  pronounced  those  blessed  who 
should  come  to  Him  with  the  same  faith  in  His  Sovereign- 
ty and  His  Divinity?  Was  He  deluded?  Or  did  He 
sanction  a  delusion  ?    Or  was  He  not  both  Lord  and  God  ? 

This  divinity  of  His  person  gives  to  the  words  of  Christ 
supreme  authority  over  the  souls  of  men.  He  is  Lord  of 
the  conscience,  Lord  of  the  affections,  Lord  of  the  will ; 
His  doctrine  is  Truth,  His  command  is  Law,  His  promise 
is  Life.  The  soul  that  woidd  live  must  obey  Christ,  must 
trust  Him,  must  serve  Him.  The  soul  that  would  come 
"to  God  as  the  Father  must  come  by  Christ. 

The  divinity  of  His  person  imparts  to  His  sufferings 
and  death  a  majesty  and  a  tenderness  that  should  draw 
men  to  Him  in  the  most  reverent  and  grateful  devotion. 
That  Jesus  should  die  a  witness  for  His  principles  and 
teachings,  and  in  testimony  of  His  love  to  man,  was  heroic, 
was  pathetic,  was  inspiring.      But  when  we  bring  into  our 

i  Jolin  xx.  28. 


JESUS   A    DIVINE    INCARNATION.  149 

conception  of  Jesus  this  divine  Sonship,  and  consider  of 
what  ineffable  dignity  and  majesty  was  He  who  thus  suf- 
fered, there  comes  over  the  soul  an  awe  and  reverence 
which  not  all  the  martyrdoms  of  history  could  inspire ; 
and  when  we  reflect  that  this  Son  of  God  gave  Himself  to 
this  shame  and  suffering  for  us,  is  there  any  tie  or  claim 
of  earth  that  can  so  move  our  souls  to  gratitude  and  devo- 
tion ?  Consecration — the  giving  up  all,  body,  soul  and 
spirit  to  such  a  Saviour, — is  the  least  to  be  thought  of  by 
one  who  believes  upon  the  only-begotten  Son  of  God. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE   COMFORTER — THE   HOLY   GHOST. 

The  Mission  of  Christ  was  begun,  consecrated  and  ended 
by  the  intervention  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  He  was  begotten 
of  the  Holy  Ghost;1  at  His  baptism  the  heaven  was 
opened,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  descended  in  bodily  shape 
like  a  dove  upon  Him  ;2  after  His  resurrection,  Jesus  met 
with  His  disciples,  and  having  identified  Himself  to  them 
as  their  crucified  Lord,  "  He  breathed  on  them,  and  said 
unto  them,  Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost;"3  and  on  the  eve 
of  His  ascension  He  bade  His  disciples  await  the  baptism 
of  the  Holy  Ghost, 4  whose  coining  into  the  Church  He 
had  already  promised  as  a  permanent  substitute  for  His 
own  withdrawal  from  the  world.5  Since  Jesus  gave  such 
prominence  and  significance  to  the  Comforter  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  His  kingdom  upon  earth,  it  is  important 
to  fix  with  definiteness  His  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  the  place  of  that  doctrine  in  His  scheme  of  theological 
thought.  An  induction  of  particulars  upon  this  question 
gives  the  following  results. 

First.  Christ  taught  that  the  Holy  Ghost  was  the  Re- 
vealer  of  Truth  from  God  to  the  souls  of  men.  In  quoting 
against  the  Scribes  the  prediction  of  David  concerning 
Himself  as  the  Son  of  God,  He  invested  this  with  the 
authority  of  divine  inspiration ;  "  For  David  himself  said 
by  the  Holy  Ghost,  The  Lord  said  to  My  Lord,  Sit  thou  on 
My  right  hand  till  I  make  Thine  enemies  Thy  footstool." 6 

i  Mat.  i.  20 ;    Luke  i.  35.  2  Luke  iii.  21,  22 ;  Mat.  iii.  13 ;  John  i.  32. 

*  John  xx.  22.    *  Acts  i.  5,  8.      5  John  xiv.  16,  26;     xvi.  7.    6  Mark  xii.  36. 

150 


RELATIONS   OF   THE    HOLY   SPIRIT   TO    THE   TRUTH.    151 

This  prevision  of  the  Messiah's  exaltation  was  above  the 
range  of  David's  imagination  as  a  poet,  and  was  imparted 
by  the  Holy  Ghost.  Jesus  constantly  appealed  to  the 
Old  Testament  as  "  the  word  of  God/' — thus  recognizing 
in  it  the  voice  of  divine  inspiration. ' 

He  instructed  His  disciples  to  look  directly  to  the  Holy 
Ghost  for  the  suggestion  of  Truth  adapted  to  their  neces- 
sities. "  When  they  shall  lead  you  and  deliver  you  up,  take 
no  thought  beforehand  what  ye  shall  speak,  neither  do  ye 
premeditate,  but  whatsoever  shall  be  given  you  in  that 
hour,  that  speak  ye ;  for  it  is  not  ye  that  speak  but  the 
Holy  Ghost."  2  This  was  an  assurance  of  immediate  in- 
spiration, to  the  extent  certainly  of  guidance  in  vindicating 
their  faith  under  circumstances  of  difficulty,  responsibility, 
and  danger.  This  special  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in 
the  perception  and  adaptation  of  Truth  was  the  compensa- 
tion that  Jesus  promised  to  His  disciples  for  the  loss  of 
His  personal  teaching.  "  When  He,  the  Spirit  of  Truth 
is  come,  He  will  guide  you  into  all  Truth ;  for  He  shall 
not  speak  of  Himself ;  but  whatsoever  He  shall  hear  [i.  e. 
from  the  Father]  that  shall  He  speak ;  and  He  will  show 
you  things  to  come."  3  The  "  Spirit  of  Truth  "  embodies 
in  Himself  the  very  principle  of  Truth  and  the  knowledge 
of  all  Truth ;  and  His  power  is  directed  to  bring  the  human 
mind  into  harmony  with  that  higher  sphere  of  spiritual 
thought  and  life  where  Truth  is  the  bond  of  unity.  As 
the  absolute  possessor  of  Truth,  He  also  imparts  Truth  in 
its  highest,  purest  forms ;  and  by  both  these  methods,  the 
ennobling  and  the  illuminating,  He  would  guide  the  apos- 
tles into  all  truth. 

Christ  had  manifested  the  truth  from  His  own  conscious- 
ness, and  as  a  teacher  had  opened  the  way  into  the  highest 
domain  of  knowledge;  but  the  spiritual  meaning  of  much 
that  He  uttered  was  at  first  only  imperfectly  apprehended 

1  Luke  iv.  4;  John  x.  35.         *  Mark  xiii.  11.         *  John  xvi.  13. 


152  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

by  His  disciples.  More  than  once  did  He  reprove  their 
slowness  of  heart  to  believe.  And  indeed,  the  disciples 
trained  in  the  sensuous  conceptions  of  the  Jews  touching 
the  Messianic  kingdom,  could  not  fully  comprehend  the 
sacrificial  bearing  of  the  death  of  Christ,  until  after  His 
resurrection  and  ascension.  Hence  it  would  be  the  office 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  bring  this  and  kindred  truths,  as 
Jesus  had  Himself  declared  them,  into  vivid  remembrance, 
to  give  them  definite  form,  to  illuminate  their  meaning,  to 
guide  the  apostles  to  a  right  understanding  of  them,  and 
also  to  open  new  reaches  and  applications  of  the  Truth — 
showing  "things  to  come."  "The  Comforter,  which  is  the 
Holy  Ghost,  whom  the  Father  will  send  in  My  name,  He 
shall  teach  you  all  things,  and  bring  all  things  to  your  re- 
membrance, whatsoever  I  have  said  unto  you. ,n  "  When 
the  Comforter  is  come,  whom  I  will  send  unto  you  from 
the  Father,  which  proceedeth  from  the  Father,  He  shall 
testify  of  me."2  "He  shall  glorify  Me;  for  Pie  shall 
receive  of  mine,  and  shall  show  it  unto  you."  3 

These  several  declarations  set  forth  the  Holy  Spirit  un- 
der every  possible  relation  to  the  Truth;  as  revealing 
truth  under  new  phases;  as  announcing  prophetically 
facts  to  be  accomplished  in  the  kingdom  of  God;  as  inter- 
preting truths  already  proclaimed  by  Christ;  as  guiding 
sincere  minds  into  the  clear  and  full  knowledge  of  truth. 
But  the  highest  function  assigned  to  the  Spirit  of  Truth  is 
that  of  employing  the  truth  as  a  power  of  sanetification 
upon  the  hearts  of  men — not  a  power  for  the  intellect 
merely,  but  for  the  feelings  and  the  will  also.  The  prayer 
of  Jesus  for  His  disciples,  "  Sanctify  them  through  Thy 
Truth ;  Thy  word  is  truth, " i  would  have  its  fulfilment 
when  the  Holy  Spirit  should  guide  them  into  all  truth. 
Christ  announced  that  the  Holy  Spirit  would  exert  upon 
the  minds  even  of  sinful  men  a  direct  power  of  conviction 

*  John  xiv.  25.    2  John  xv.  26.    »John  xvi.  14.    *Johu  xvii.  17. 


THE    HOLY   SPIRIT    IN    THE    CHURCH.  153 

and  rebuke  through  the  doctrine  of  Christ :  "  When  He  is 
come,  He  will  reprove  the  world  of  sin,  of  righteousness 
and  of  judgment :  'n  by  making  manifest  the  innocence 
and  holiness  of  Christ,  the  sinful  unbelief  that  had  re- 
jected Him,  and  His  assured  triumph  over  all  the  powers 
of  evil,  and  thereby  working  in  the  minds  of  such  as  had 
rejected  Him,  a  humiliating  and  self-reproving  conviction 
of  their  guilt,  the  Holy  Spirit  would  vindicate  the  Truth 
embodied  in  the  life  and  death  of  Jesus,  and  would  secure 
to  His  Gospel  a  triumphant  efficacy. 

That  which  the  Holy  Ghost  thus  effectively  presents  to 
the  minds  of  men  is  the  truths  of  Religion,  especially  as 
these  are  embodied  in  the  Holy  Scriptures.  Christ  did 
not  promise  that  He  should  enlighten  us  in  the  science  of 
nature,  of  history,  of  government,  or  make  new  discover- 
ies of  the  mysteries  of  creation  ; — but  that  He  should  con- 
vince men  of  sin  and  lead  them  to  faith  in  Christ  Himself 
— a  work  having  immediate  reference  to  the  extension  of 
the  Kingdom  of  God. 

A  second  point  in  Christ's  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
was  that  He  was  the  source  of  the  supernatural  gifts  and 
powers  imparted  to  the  first  disciples  for  the  furtherance  of. 
the  Gospel 

When  Jesus  commissioned  the  apostles  to  go  into  all  the 
world  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature,  He  prom- 
ised that  these  signs  should  follow  them  that  believe:  "In 
My  name  shall  they  cast  out  devils ;  they  shall  speak 
with  new  tongues,  they  shall  take  up  serpents;  and  if 
they  drink  any  deadly  thing  it  shall  not  hurt  them; 
they  shall  lay  hands  on  the  sick  and  they  shall  re- 
cover. " 2  The  fulfilment  of  this  promise  is  recorded  by 
Luke  in  the  following  words,  uttered  by  our  Lord  just  be- 
fore His  ascension  :  "  Ye  shall  be  baptized  with  the  Holy 
Ghost  not  many  days  hence  ;  and  ye  shall  receive  power 
after  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  come  upon  you  " 3 — or  ye  shall 

'John  xvi.  8.  *Mark  xvi.  17.  8Acte  i.  5,  seq. 


154  THE   THEOLOGY  OF   CHRIST. 

receive  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost  coming  upon  you  : — 
the  spiritual  endowment  of  the  apostles  for  their  work,  and 
supernatural  powers  to  certify  their  calling  and  to  con- 
vince the  world  of  the  divine  warrant  of  the  Gospel. 

Even  His  own  miracles — though  these  proceeded  from 
the  power  that  dwelt  always  in  Himself — Jesus  referred  to 
the  Spirit  of  God.  The  Pharisees  accused  Him  of  being  in 
league  with  Beelzebub,  the  prince  of  the  devils ;  but  Jesus 
answered  them :  "  If  I  cast  out  devils  by  the  Spirit  of  God, 
then  the  Kingdom  of  God  has  come  unto  you.  " l  Had 
His  reply  ended  with  these  words,  we  might  have  taken 
the  expression  "  Spirit  of  God  "  for  an  influence  upon  Him- 
self, emanating  from  the  Father ;  but  He  added,  "  All 
manner  of  sin  and  blasphemy  shall  be  forgiven  unto  men, 
but  the  blasphemy  against  the  Holy  Ghost  shall  not  be 
forgiven  unto  them. "  2  From  this  it  is  evident  that  Jesus 
intended  by  the  "  Spirit  of  God,"  that  same  "  Spirit  of 
Truth"  of  whom  He  afterwards  spake  as  "the  Comforter," 
for  blasphemy  could  not  be  uttered  against  an  unconscious 
influence,  but  only  against  a  divine  Person. 

It  was,  further,  the  doctrine  of  Christ  that  the  Holy 
Spirit  would  abide  in  the  hearts  of  believers,  and  with 
the  Church,  collectively,  for  guidance,  comfort,  encourage- 
ment, support.  To  prepare  His  disciples  for  His  departure 
He  gave  them  two  topics  of  consolation  : — first  His  own 
temporary  return  : — "  A  little  while,  and  ye  shall  see  me 
...  I  will  see  you  again,  and  your  heart  shall  rejoice."  3 
But  His  resurrection,  while  it  would  revive  their  hopes  of 
His  kingdom, 4  and  give  them  the  most  absolute  confidence 
in  His  promises,  would  nevertheless  be  followed  by  a  sec- 
ond and  lasting  bereavement  of  His  presence,  through  His 
ascension  to  the  Father.  For  this  bereavement  there 
was  provided  a  second  and  permanent  consolation,  in  the 

»  Matt.  xii.  28.        2Matt.  xii.  31.        3  John  xvi.  16,  22.        «Acts  i.  6. 


THE   HOLY  SPIRIT   A    DIVINE   PERSON.  155 

coming  of  the  Comforter :  "  I  will  pray  the  Father,  and 
He  shall  give  you  another  Comforter,  that  He  may  abide 
with  you  forever  " — a  Helper  ever  within  call ;  an  Advo- 
cate always  atcommand.  This  Comforter  would  even  be 
nearer  to  them  and  more  constantly  with  them  than  Christ 
had  been  in  His  bodily  presence.  "  He  dwelleth  with  you 
and  shall  be  in  you."  He  would  come  in  a  manner  in- 
visible to  the  world,  and  that  the  worldly  mind  could  not 
comprehend:  come  through  the  quickening  of  the  con- 
sciousness to  a  realization  of  higher  spiritual  truths ;  come 
as  a  gracious,  soothing,  healing  influence  upon  the  mind 
itself  in  the  deepest  concernments  of  the  soul ;  come  in  the 
experiences  of  the  inner  life  in  the  love  of  Christ,  in  the 
sense  of  the  forgiveness  of  sin  and  of  fellowship  with  God, 
in  the  feelings  of  hope,  comfort,  peace,  joy,  in  all  that  per- 
tains to  our  relations  with  our  Heavenly  Father  and  to 
our  final  salvation.  As  Christ  became  incarnate  in  Hu- 
manity for  its  redemption,  so  is  the  Holy  Spirit  perpetually 
incarnate  in  the  Church  for  its  sanctification. 

All  the  teaching  of  Christ  concerning  the  Holy  Ghost 
assumes  or  implies  both  the  divinity  of  the  Spirit  and  His 
distinct  personality.  He  spake  of  the  Spirit  not  as  a  thing, 
an  attribute,  an  influence,  a  property,  but  as  a  person ;  He 
ascribed  to  the  Spirit  such  acts  and  offices  as  can  be  af- 
firmed only  of  a  person  ;  had  He  said  "  I  will  send  My 
spirit  or  My  Father  will  send  His  spirit,"  this  might  have 
meant  nothing  more  than  that  He  would  cause  them  to 
feel  an  influence  from  Himself,  or  that  an  influence  pro- 
ceeding from  God  would  bring  their  feelings  and  actions 
into  accord  with  the  spirit  of  Christ.  Had  He  promised 
to  His  disciples  specifically  a  spirit  of  wisdom  or  a  spirit  of 
power,  this  might  have  signified  nothing  more  than  .a  guid- 
ance or  an  efficiency  imparted  by  divine  influence.  But 
He  spake  of  the  Spirit, — thus  defining  one  distinct  Spirit ; 
the  Holy  Spirit,  designating  the  Spirit  by  a  personal  and 


156  THE  THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

moral  characteristic ;  and  He  used  the  personal  pronoun — 
"  the  Holy  Ghost  whom  the  Father  will  send  in  My  name ; 
whom  the  world  cannot  receive,  because  it  seeth  Him  not, 
neither  knoweth  Him"  l  This  constant  use  of  "  He  "  and 
"  Him  "  denotes  personality  ;  it  would  be  a  solecism  thus 
to  speak  of  an  unconscious  influence. 

Jesus  said,  also,  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  He  shall  abide  with 
you  ;  He  shall  teach  you  ;  He  shall  guide  you  ;  He  shall 
hear  and  shall  speak;  He  shall  glorify  Me ;  He  shall  tes- 
tify of  Me ; — all  which  are  personal  acts,  which  no  stretch 
of  metaphor  could  predicate  of  an  unconscious  influence. 

Moreover,  a  personality  is  attributed  to  the  Holy  Spirit 
as  distinct  from  the  Father  and  the  Son  :  "  I  will  pray  the 
Father  ;"  now  prayer  is  the  act  of  one  personal  conscious- 
ness addressing  itself  to  .another :  "I"  and  "  the  Father  ;" 
and  He,  i.  e.,  the  Father,  "  shall  give  you  another  Com- 
forter"— a  Helper  in  the  stead  of  Jesus  ; — that  He,  this 
Comforter  thus  distinguished  from  both  the  Father  and 
the  Son,  may  "  abide  with  you  forever."  Leaving  all  meta- 
physical refinements  about  personality,  in  the  doctrine  of 
Jesus,  the  Holy  Spirit  is  so  far  distinct  from  the  Father 
and  the  Son  that  the  pronouns  in  the  first,  second,  and 
third  persons  may  be  applied  to  them  separately,  and  to 
describe  their  relations  and  actions  one  toward  another. 

At  the  same  time,  His  doctrine  ascribes  to  the  Holy 
Spirit  a  true  and  proper  divinity  ; — the  acts  and  attributes 
of  divinity,  absolute  knowledge,  foresight  of  things  to  come, 
power  over  the  memory,  the  thoughts,  and  the  wills  of 
men,  and  power  to  impart  miraculous  gifts.  In  the  form- 
ula of  baptism,  the  sacrament  by  which  disciples  are  ini- 
tiated into  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  the  name  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  linked  upon  equal  terms  with  the  names  of  Christ 
and  of  the  Father  : — "  baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the 
Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  2     Here 

Uohnxiv.  ir.   -  -    2  Matt,  xxviil.  19. 


THE   HOLY   SPIRIT   A   DIVINE   PERSON.  157 

the  "Name"  denotes  personality  ;  and  in  the  solemn  con- 
secration of  a  soul  to  its  Creator  and  Lord,  it  is  not  credi- 
ble that  anything  lower  than  Divinity  would  be  associated 
with  the  Name  that  is  above  every  name,  as  worthy  of  like 
homage  and  devotion.  But  it  was  in  condemning  the 
blasphemy  of  the  Pharisees  that  Jesus  set  forth  in  the 
strongest  terms  the  divine  personality  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
While  His  own  divinity  was  veiled  under  the  humiliation 
of  the  flesh,  men  might  impugn  His  acts  and  oe  pardoned; 
but  so  clear  and  strong  is  the  proof  of  divine  power  in  acts 
performed  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  that  to  contemn  Him  is 
an  unpardonable  sin.  "  Whosoever  speaketh  a  word 
against  the  Son  of  Man,  it  shall  be  forgiven  him ;  but 
whosoever  speaketh  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  it  shall  not 
be  forgiven  him,  neither  in  this  world,  neither  in  the 
world  to  come." 

This  doctrine  of  Jesus  is  a  warrant  for  faith  in  the  Gospels 
as  a  divinely  insj)ired  record  of  Himself.  Since  the  Holy 
Spirit  quickened  and  guided  the  apostles  in  the  recollection, 
the  conception,  and  the  statement  of  truth  as  uttered  by 
Christ  Himself,  the  record  of  the  words  of  Jesus  in  the 
Gospels  is  authenticated  by  divine  authority ;  and  should 
therefore  be  received  with  loving  reverence  and  obedience. 
Like  a  great  poem  or  symphony  it  carries  within  itself  the 
tokens  of  the  Master.  And  He  who  is  perpetually  in  the 
Truth,  quickening  the  letter  into  life,  is  also  in  the  world 
convincing  men  of  this  same  truth  ;  convincing  them  of 
their  sin  and  their  "need  of  a  Saviour  ;  convincing  them  of 
the  righteousness  of  Christ,  and  His  power  as  the  Holy  Son 
of  God  to  save  them  from  their  sin  ;  convincing  them  of 
judgment,  the  condemnation  under  which  every  sinner 
lies,  the  condemnation  that  is  upon  the  world,  and  the 
judgment  to  come  :  and  so  the  Spirit  who  is  in  the  truth, 
is  also  by  the  truth  speaking  to  the  hearts  of  men  with 
conviction. 


158  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

How  full  of  responsibility  is  the  hearing  of  the  Gospel, 
seeing  that  in  it  God  speaks  to  every  man,  as  He  spake  to 
Israel  face  to  face !  How  full  of  peril  is  it  to  disobey  the 
Gospel,  seeing  that  he  who  resists  this  truth  resists  the 
Holy  Ghost.  But  how  full  of  encouragement  also,  to  all 
who  proclaim  the  Gospel  is  the  assurance  that  the  Spirit  of 
God  who  inspired  it  at  the  first,  still  lives  in  it  and  speaks 
through  it.  To  human  view  the  conversion  of  a  soul  that 
is  committed  to  selfishness  by  force  of  will,  by  pride  and 
habit,  or  that  is  steeped  in  iniquity  and  hemmed  round 
with  evil  associations,  may  appear  not  only  difficult  but 
hopeless.  But  when  Jesus  commanded  His  disciples  to  go 
into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature, 
He  appointed  the  divine  word  as  the  instrument  and  prom- 
ised the  divine  Spirit  as  the  power,  and  with  these  all 
things  are  possible  to  him  that  belie veth. 

The  personal  bearings  of  Christ's  doctrine  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  are  of  inestimable  value.  His  predominant  thought 
in  the  promise  of  the  Spirit  to  His  disciples  was  their  com- 
fort under  bereavement  and  their  endowment  for  the  labors 
and  conflicts  of  His  service.  So  far  from  promising  them 
exemption  from  trials,  He  forewarned  them  of  tribulations 
that  would  arise  out  of  the  very  fact  of  their  discipleship ; 1 
but  in  the  sore  bereavement  of  His  absence,  the  Comforter, 
the  Helper  would  be  ever  within  call.  Every  word  of  this 
precious  promise  stands  good  for  every  disciple  and  for  all 
time ;  to  every  bereaved  and  sorrowing  but  trusting  heart 
the  Comforter  comes ;  to  every  burdened,  struggling,  but 
praying  and  believing  soul,  the  Helper  is  nigh.  Men 
often  proffer  sympathy  without  help  or  help  without  sym- 
pathy ;  but  in  the  coming  of  the  Holy  Ghost  are  pledged 
both  comfort  and  help,  available  and  satisfying. 

And  in  that  coming,  moreover,  is  our  grandest  incite- 
ment and  hope  for  the  endeavor  of  holy  living.     To  attain 

1  John  xvi.  33. 


THE    HOEY   GHOST   A    HELPER.  159 

moral  perfection  is,  at  times  at  least,  the  aspiration  of  every 
true  soul.  No  one  of  the  beatitudes  so  thrills  the  heart 
with  longings  for  its  own  disenthralment  from  evil,  as  this  ; 
"  Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart ;  for  they  shall  see  God." l 
That  beatific  vision  has  been  the  dream  of  poetry  and 
philosophy,  that  likeness  to  God  the  longing  of  devotion. 
But  what  poetry  and  philosophy  have  depicted  in  the  in- 
finite distance,  and  devotion  has  sighed  for  with  wingless 
and  baffled   desires,  finding  still 

"  Somewhat  to  cast  off,  somewhat  to  become," 

is  brought  within  reach,  made  possible,  made  actual,  when 
the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  comes  to  dwell  in  our  hearts,  to 
teach  us  all  things,  to  guide  us  into  all  truth  and  show  us 
things  to  come.  Renovated  through  the  virtue  of  this  Holy 
Presence,  and  illuminated  with  this  inward  guidance,  the 
soul  may  see  God.2 

1  Mat.  v.  8. 
1  For  a  fuller  discussion  of  the  New  Testament  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
see  the  author's  volume  on  "  The  Holy  Comforter." 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


PARADISE. 


The  Theology  of  Christ  has  always  a  background  of 
Eschatology  ;  and  His  doctrine  of  the  Last  Things  is  one 
of  the  most  distinctive  features  of  His  system.  All  His 
teachings  point  to  His  second  coming,  and  to  the  marvel- 
lous events  which  shall  attend  that  both  to  the  living  and 
the  dead.  The  Kingdom  of  Heaven  shall  then  be  per- 
fected ;  the  Son  of  Man  shall  appear  in  power  and  glory, 
and  the  issues  of  the  present  life  shall  be  made  up  in  the 
unchanging  conditions  of  the  Hereafter. 

But  until  that  great  consummation  what  and  where  shall 
be  the  state  of  the  dead  ?  Do  they  sleep  in  unconscious- 
ness? Do  they  enter  at  once  upon  their  final  state  of 
award  ?  Or  do  they  linger  in  some  intermediate  state  of 
uncertainty,  of  imperfection,  possibly  of  purgatory  ? 

The  reticence  of  Jesus  upon  such  points  as  these  is  in 
marked  contrast  with  His  pronounced  utterances  concern- 
ing the  finalities  of  the  future  state,  and  with  the  eagerness 
of  the  human  mind,  and  especially  of  human  affection,  to 
withdraw  the  veil  from  what  directly  follows  death.  The 
poet l  has  well  expressed  both  the  longing  and  the  mys- 
tery, "  when  Lazarus  left  his  charnel-cave." 

"Where  wert  thou,  brother,  those  four  days  ?" 

There  lives  no  record  of  reply, 

Which,  telling  what  it  is  to  die, 
Had  surely  added  praise  to  praise. 

Behold  a  man  raised  up  by  Christ ! 

The  rest  remaineth  unrevealed. 

He  told  it  not ;  or  something  sealed 
The  lips  of  that  Evangelist. 

1  Tennyson,  In  Memoriam,  xxxi. 

160 


PARADISE.  161 

Upon  all  that  concerns  the  state  of  the  departed  Christ 
addressed  Himself  not  to  curiosity  but  to  faith  ;  not  to  the 
speculative  fancy  but  to  the  moral  feelings,  and  this  by 
setting  up  character  rather  than  condition  as  the  object  of 
attainment.  Unless  the  parable  of  Dives  and  Lazarus  be 
understood  of  a  scene  in  Hades,  there  is  hardly  anything 
in  the  teachings  of  Christ  concerning  the  state  of  the  soul 
between  death  and  the  judgment.  Yet  by  one  brief  word 
uttered  just  as  He  was  expiring  on  the  cross,  Jesus  lifted 
the  veil  from  untold  possibilities  of  life  and  felicity  to  the 
soul  after  death.  One  of  the  malefactors  at  His  side  said 
unto  Him,  "  Lord,  remember  me  when  Thou  comest  into 
Thy  kingdom."  "And  Jesus  said  unto  him,  Verily,  I  say 
unto  thee,  To-day  shalt  thou  be  with  Me  in  Paradise.  "  1 

What  mysterious  questionings  start  up  at  the  reading  of 
these  words.  They  were  the  promise  of  the  dying  Saviour 
to  the  penitent  transgressor.  They  were  the  answer  to  the 
prayer  of  a  public  criminal,  who  confessed  the  justice  of 
his  condemnation  for  his  deeds ;  but -who,  amid  the  agony 
of  a  lingering  death,  turned  to  Jesus  with  the  homage  of 
his  soul,  and  the  prayer  of  adoration  and  trust.  Most  sug- 
gestive are  they  of  the  compassion  and  grace  of  the  Re- 
deemer, and  of  the  certainty  of  salvation  to  every  true 
penitent. 

But  our  inquiry  is  now  directed  to  the  terms  and  con- 
tents of  the  promise.  Where  did  Jesus  promise  to  convey 
the  spirit  of  the  dying  thief?  To  Paradise.  When  f  To- 
day. In  what  society  would  he  there  be  ?  With  Christ 
Himself.     To-day  shalt    thou    be  tvith  Me  in  Paradise. 

What,  then,  and  where  is  Paradise  ?  Is  this  only  an- 
other term  for  heaven?  Does  it  signify  the  final  blessed- 
ness of  the  righteous?  or  does  it  apply  to  some  state  interme- 
diate between  death  and  the  judgment,  in  which  the  soul 

1  Luke  xxiii.  42,  43. 
11 


162  THE   THEOLOGY    OF    CHIilST. 

awaits  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  before  entering  into  its 
final  abode? 

The  state  of  departed  saints  directly  after  death  has 
been  the  subject  of  wide  speculation  in  the  Church  from 
the  earliest  times;  and  the  most  opposite  theories  have 
been  broached  according  to  the  prevalence  of  a  more 
sensuous  or  a  more  spiritual  philosophy,  of  a  more  literal 
or  a  more  fanciful  interpretation  of  the  Scriptures.  Justin 
Martyr,  who  lived  in  the  first  half  of  the  second  century, 
denounced  as  a  heresy  the  doctrine  that  souls  are  immedi- 
ately received  into  heaven  at  death,  and  maintained  that 
the  souls  of  the  righteous  depart  to  a  temporary  but  hap- 
py place — an  intermediate  state.  On  the  other  hand, 
Cyprian,  bishop  of  Carthage  about  the  middle  of  the  third 
century,  held  that  those  dying  in  the  Lord  were  taken  im- 
mediately to  His  presence.  Again :  Tertullian,  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  third  century,  believed  that  Martyrs  went 
immediately  to  heaven,  but  that  for  believers  in  general, 
there  was  a  delay  in  some  intermediate  state,  before  arriv- 
ing at  the  heavenly  glory  ;  whereas  Origen,  who  flou- 
rished at  Alexandria  at  about  the  same  period,  taught  that 
immediately  after  death  believers  go  first  to  Paradise, 
which  he  imagined  to  be  a  happy  island ;  as  they  grow  in 
knowledge  and  piety,  they  proceed  on  their  journey  from 
Paradise  to  higher  regions,  and  having  passed  through 
various  mansions  which  the  Scriptures  call  heavens,  they 
arrive  at  last  at  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  properly  so  called. 
The  perfection  of  blessedness  ensues  only  after  the  general 
judgment. 1 

In  later  times  the  doctrine  of  purgatory  was  added  to 
that  of  the  intermediate  state  by  the  Latin  Church,  though 
never  accepted  by  the  Greek  Church.  At  the  Reforma- 
tion, many  Protestant  theologians  in  rejecting  a  purgatory, 
rejected   also   the  notion  of  an   intermediate  state,  while 

1  See  citations  in  Hagenbach,  History  of  Doctrines,  $  77,  78. 


VIEWS   OF   THE   EARLY   FATHERS.  163 

others  retained  the  doctrine  that  the  souls  of  the  righteous 
linger  in  some  vestibule  of  the  heavenly  kingdom  until 
the  last  judgment.  The  former  view  is  well-expressed  in 
the  burial  service  of  the  Church  of  England  for  the  dead : 
"  Almighty  God,  with  whom  do  live  the  spirits  of  those 
that  depart  hence  in  the  Lord,  and  with  whom  the  souls 
of  the  faithful,  after  they  are  delivered  from  the  burden  of 
the  flesh,  are  in  joy  and  felicity." 

The  belief  in  an  intermediate  state  for  the  righteous,  in 
which  they  await  the  consummation  of  all  things  before  be- 
ing presented  at  the  throne  of  the  Father,  obtains  especially 
in  the  Lutheran  communion,  but  has  able  advocates  as  well 
in  other  communions  ;  so  that  from  the  earliest  times  till 
now,  this  has  been  a  subject  upon  which  great  latitude  of 
opinion  and  great  diversity  of  theory  have  been  admitted 
within  the  range  of  Orthodoxy. 

The  notions  of  some  of  the  early  Fathers  were  in- 
fluenced by  the  pagan  philosophy  in  which  they  had  been 
trained  before  their  conversion,  and  which  instead  of  being 
wholly  discarded  was  applied,  sometimes  unconsciously,  to 
the  interpretation  of  Christian  doctrines.  Thus  the  specu- 
lations of  Persia  and  Greece  concerning  the  transportation 
of  the  soul  through  a  series  of  abodes  up  toward  the  dwell- 
ing-place of  the  gods,  found  their  way  under  modified 
forms  into  Christian  theology.  The  Jewish  Rabbis  had 
long  been  addicted  to  fanciful  allegories  concerning  the 
kingdom  of  the  Messiah ;  in  His  reign  the  garden  of  Eden 
was  to  be  restored,  and  the  righteous  would  dwell  in  Para- 
dise, with  royal  apparel,  in  palaces  of  gold,  amid  groves  and 
fountains  and  flowers  of  wondrous  fragrance  .and  healing 
virtue.  Such  Scriptures  as  the  thirty-fifth  chapter  of  Isaiah 
were  taken  as  a  literal  picture  of  the  abundance  of  sensu- 
ous delights  in  this  Messianic  Paradise ;  and  the  apocry- 
phal book  of  Esdras  promises  to  the  children  of  God  a 
dwelling  in  a  beautiful  garden,  where  are  streams  of  milk 


164  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHEIST. 

and  honey,  and  mountains  covered  with  lilies  and  roses. 
Such  views  tinctured  the  popular  belief  of  the  Jews  con- 
cerning the  future  abode  of  the  righteous,  and  we  trace 
their  influence  also  in  some  of  the  early  Christian  writings. 

But  the  great  storehouse  or  rather  university  of  ideas 
concerning  the  future  state  was  Egypt — from  which  the 
Greeks  and  Romans  derived  their  most  impressive  notions 
of  the  experiences  of  the  soul  after  death.  The  book  of 
prayers  and  forms  which  the  Egyptians  deposited  in  the 
tomb  as  a  sort  of  guide  and  passport  for  the  departed  spirit 
through  the  world  of  the  dead,  teaches  that  the  soul  con- 
tinues conscious  after  death ;  that  it  enters  into  Hades,  a 
gloomy  region  under  the  earth ;  that  if  already  pure  it 
passes  safely  through  this  dismal  abode ;  but  if  impure  or 
defective  is  subjected  to  discipline ;  that  on  emerging  from 
Hades  it  is  judged,  and  having  passed  this  ordeal  it 
advances  through  seven  distinct  halls  up  to  as  many  pal- 
aces, till  it  arrives  at  last  at  the  chief  dwelling  of  the  gods. 
Prominent  in  this  conception  of  the  Future  State  was  the 
notion  of  a  detention  after  death  in  a  sort  of  border-land, 
before  reaching  the  highest  blessedness,  and  of  a  gradation 
through  which  the  soul  must  pass  in  its  ascent  to  the  Ely- 
sian  fields — which  answered  to  Paradise.1 

We  trace  this  general  conception  down  through  the  lit- 
erature of  later  nations,  and  find  it  culminating  at  last  in 
the  magnificent  poem  of  Dante.  In  his  Paradise  are 
ten  heavens,  nine  of  which  revolve  about  the  earth  as  a 
common  center,  each  filling  the  sphere  of  a  planet,  and  the 
tenth  or  highest  is  motionless,  and  encircles  and  contains 
all  the  rest.  Each  of  these  heavens  contains  spirits  in  dif- 
ferent degrees  of  advancement  toward  perfection ;  in  the 

1  For  a  complete  view  of  the  Egyptian  doctrine  of  a  future  state,  see  the 
"Book  of  the  Dead,"  translated  by  Dr.  Birch,  in  Egypt's  Place  in  Universal 
History,  vol.  v. ;  also  an  analysis  of  the  same  by  the  author  of  this  volume,  in 
the  Bibliotheca  Sacra  for  1868,  pp.  69-112. 


MEANING   OF   PARADISE.  165 

ninth  are  the  Orders  of  Angels,  and  in  the  tenth  is   the 
visible  presence  of  God. 

Thus  in  all  ages  and  among  all  people  have  contempla- 
tive and  imaginative  minds — philosophers,  poets,  theologi- 
ans,— been  exercised  upon  the  state  of  the  soul  after  death, 
and  especially  whether  it  is  in  a  condition  of  immediate 
consciousness  and  blessedness  ;  or  for  a  time  unconscious  or 
asleep — to  be  hereafter  vivified  ;  or,  if  conscious,  whether 
at  once  made  perfect  in  bliss,  or  subjected  to  intermediate 
delays  and  changes  in  its  progress  towards  the  highest 
phase  of  its  existence.  Hardly  any  question  has  for  the 
human  mind  such  a  universal  power  of  fascination.  Yet 
in  comparison  with  the  fundamental  fact  of  a  future  state  of 
rewards  and  punishments  to  become  at  some  time  the 
experience  of  every  human  soul,  these  details  of  time  and 
mode  are  more  curious  than  momentous,  and  are  treated  in 
the  sacred  Scriptures  with  a  discreet  silence.  Only  hints 
are  given,  where  our  instinct  of  immortality  craves  minute 
and  copious  information  ;  and  the  best  Biblical  students  are 
far  from  agreed  in  their  interpretation  of  these  hints,  or 
in  the  doctrines  they  would  base  upon  them.  Still 
the  field  is  open  for  ever-new  inquiry,  and  by  comparing 
spiritual  things  with  spiritual  we  may  get  at  least  an  ink- 
ling of  the  truth. 

What  did  our  Lord  intend  by  Paradise?  This  was  the 
only  instance  in  which  He  used  the  word,  except  as  John 
cites  it  from  His  lips,  in  the  Apocalypse ; x  and  it  occurs 
but  once  besides  in  the  New  Testament. 2  It  is  a  word  of 
Eastern  origin  which  the  Greeks  borrowed  to  describe  an 
oriental  park — such  for  instance  as  the  Greek  general 
Xenophon  saw  on  his  famous  march  into  the  interior  of 
Asia — and  which  is  described  as  "  a  wide  park  enclosed 
against  injury,  yet  with  its  natural  beauty  unspoiled,  with 
stately  forest  trees,  many  of  them  bearing  fruit,  watered  by 

1  Rev.  ii.  7.  2  2  Cor.  xii.  4. 


166  THE  THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

clear  streams,  on  whose  banks  roved  large  herds  of  ante- 
lopes or  sheep." 1  For  this  feature  of  Eastern  scenery — re- 
sembling somewhat  the  forest  of  Fontainebleau  in  France, 
though  more  rich  and  luxuriant — the  Greeks  adopted  from 
the  Sanscrit  the  name  Paradise. 

This  word  came  into  the  New  Testament  through  the 
Septuagint ;  for  the  Greek  translation  of  the  Hebrew  Scrip- 
tures, made  three  centuries  before  Christ,  was  widely  in  use 
among  the  Jews  in  His  time,  and  many  of  the  quotations 
from  the  Old  Testament  in  the  New  are  made  from  that 
version.  In  the  Septuagint  Paradise  is  used  for  Eden, 
wherever  that  word  occurs  in  the  English  version,  and 
also  for  garden.  Thus  where  Solomon  says  "  I  made  me 
gardens  and  orchards," 2  the  Septuagint  reads,  "  Paradises." 
In  the  prophecy  of  Balaam :  "  How  goodly  are  thy  tents, 
O  Jacob  ;  as  the  valleys  are  they  spread  forth,  as  gardens 
(Paradises)  by  the  river  side."  3  In  the  book  of  Nehemiah 
is  a  curious  instance  of  the  same  meaning  that  Xenophon 
gave  to  the  word.  Nehemiah  who  lived  at  the  court  of 
Babylon,  says  "  The  king  gave  me  a  letter  to  Asaph,  the 
keeper  of  the  king's  forest,  that  he  may  give  me  timber  to 
make  beams  for  the  gates  of  the  palace."4  The  word 
"  forest "  here  the  Septuagint  gives  Paradise — a  pleasure- 
forest  or  preserve.  The  first  notion  of  Paradise  to  a  Jew 
therefore,  was  a  royal  garden  like  Eden  ;  indeed  the  gar- 
den in  which  our  first  parents  were  placed  was  "  the  Para- 
dise of  God." 

But  Paradise  was  not  simply  a  remembered  name ;  it 
was  a  word  of  promise  and  hope  as  well :  for  in  the  pro- 
phet Isaiah,  it  is  a  frequent  type  of  the  future  blessedness 
and  glory  of  the  people  of  God.  "  The  Lord  shall  com- 
fort Zion :  He  will  comfort  all  her  waste  places :  and  He 
will  make  her  wilderness  like  Eden  and  her  desert  like 
the  garden  of  the  Lord." 5    Paradise  was  the  word  adopted 

*  Smith's  Diet,  of  Bible.    2  Eccles.  ii.  5.     s  Num.  xxiv.  6.  *■  Neh.  ii.  8.     *  li.  3. 


JEWISH   VIEWS   OF   PARADISE.  167 

by  the  Septuagint  to  describe  this  scene  of  beauty — "joy 
and  gladness  shall  be  found  therein,  thanksgiving  and  the 
voice  of  melody." 

Such  being  the  idea  of  Paradise  in  that  version  of  the 
Scriptures  then  widely  used  among  the  Jews,  and  which 
Christ  Himself  probably  read  from  in  the  synagogues, 
what  promise  did  He  intend  to  convey  to  the  thief  at  his 
side  when  He  said,  "  To-day  Thou  shalt  be  with  Me  in 
Paradise  ?"  He  did  not  explain  the  term  ;  He  would  not 
tantalize  His  fellow-sufferer  with  an  unintelligible  reply; 
it  must  have  had  a  satisfying  meaning  to  the  mind  of  a 
common  Jew. 

We  have  seen  that  the  Jewish  Rabbis  had  gone  beyond 
the  Biblical  idea  of  the  term,  and  had  pictured  Paradise  as 
either  a  place  of  sensuous  delights  in  the  Messiah's  king- 
dom upon  earth,  or  an  intermediate  place  of  blessedness 
after  death;  and  some  of  the  more  intellectual  among  them, 
such  as  Philo,  had  made  Paradise  a  mere  symbol  of  the 
happiness  to  be  derived  from  wisdom.  But  shall  we  there- 
fore attach  to  the  word  Paradise  as  used  by  Christ 
the  popular  notion  of  "  a  fair  land  cooled  by  ocean  breezes 
and  watered  by  limpid  streams,  where  the  souls  of  the 
righteous  would  tarry  awhile  on  their  way  to  heaven  :  or 
a  region  in  the  upper  part  of  Sheol,  somehow  divided  from 
the  place  of  the  wicked,  but  not  the  final  resting-place  of 
the  good  ?"  Surely  Christ's  method  of  teaching  forbids  us 
to  assume  that,  by  using  a  term  of  common  speech,  He 
would  countenance  the  erroneous  notions  which  the  popu- 
lar imagination  had  attached  to  that  word.  The  Jewish 
popular  belief  was  full  of  errors  concerning  the  Messiah, 
and  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ;  but  Jesus  neither  refrained 
from  using  these  terms,  nor  by  using  them  did  He  sanc- 
tion the  erroneous  notions  which  attached  to  them  in  the 
popular  mind.  Rather,  He  sought  to  reclaim  such  words 
to  their  proper  significance,     Hence  inasmuch  as  the  term 


168  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

Paradise  was  essentially  a  Bible-word  through  its  frequent 
use  in  a  translation  as  widely  read  as  the  Hebrew  Scrip- 
tures— we  must  look  for  the  meaning  of  Paradise,  not  to 
the  popular  belief  nor  the  fancies  of  the  Rabbis,  not  to  the 
speculative  Philo  nor  the  credulous  Josephus,  but  to 
the  fundamental  idea  of  the  first  Paradise  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, as  this  was  illustrated  by  the  spiritual  teaching  of 
our  Lord.  It  were  easy  to  poetize  or  philosophize  here  ; 
but  the  question  is  one  of  interpretation. 

The  primitive  Paradise — the  first  abode  of  man — em- 
braced these  elements ;  a  state  of  purity  or  innocence ;  a 
place  of  beauty,  abundance  and  delight,  or  a  condition  of 
peaceful,  and  entire  satisfaction  ;  the  nearness  of  God  as 
the  loving  Father :  and  an  implied  pledge  of  immortality. 
The  true  life  in  Paradise  was  without  sin — for  when  man 
sinned  he  was  cast  out  from  the  garden ;  life  in  Paradise 
was  free  from  want  and  care — for  toil  and  pain  came  as  the 
curse  of  sin :  life  in  Paradise  was  one  of  plenty  and  de- 
light— for  the  garden  was  planted  with  "  every  tree  that 
was  pleasant  to  the  sight  and  good  for  food ;"  l  life  in 
Paradise  was  favored  with  frequent  manifestations  of  the 
presence  of  God — for  the  Lord  God  walked  in  the  garden, 
He  talked  with  Adam,  instructed  and  blessed  him,  making 
every  provision  for  his  happiness  as  an  expression  of  his 
Maker's  love.  And  this  life  carried  with  it  the  presump- 
tion of  its  immortality — for  the  symbolic  tree  of  life  stood 
in  the  midst  of  the  garden,  like  a  covenant  in  perpetuity, 
and  death  was  threatened  as  a  consequence  of  sin.  Such  a 
Life,  pure,  peaceful,  satisfying,  blessed  with  the  presence 
of  God  and  the  promise  of  immortality,  was  the  Eden  of  the 
Hebrew  Scriptures,  which  in  popular  language  long  before 
the  time  of  Christ,  had  come  to  be  familiarly  known  as 
Paradise,     And  the  restoration  of  this  Paradise  was  looked 


PARADISE   WITH   CHRIST.  1G9 

for  under  the  reign  of  the  Messiah,  whose  coming  would 
make  the  desert  like  the  Paradise  of  God. 

In  the  popular  belief  this  would  be  a  state  of  felicity 
such  as  poets  have  pictured  in  the  golden  age;  but  it 
would  supercede  the  present  condition  of  things,  this  dis- 
ordered world  of  sin,  pain,  and  sorrow,  and  would  over-lap 
into  the  future  state ;  and  so  the  word  Paradise  came  to 
signify  some  serene  and  blissful  state  of  being,  this  side  of 
heaven  in  the  order  of  time  and  space,  but  conducting  to 
heaven  as  a  sort  of  middle-way. 

Jesus  took  this  word,  Paradise,  as  the  equivalent  of 
Eden,  and  announced  the  realization  of  that  state  of 
primitive  blessedness  in  the  spirit-world  which  He  would 
open  to  all  believers.  It  is  quite  evident  that  Christ  used 
the  word  to  denote  a  condition  after  death.  Both  He  and 
the  sufferer  at  His  side  were  presently  to  have  done  with 
this  world  ;  and  Jesus  intended  to  give  to  the  penitent 
thief  a  promise  of  hope  and  encouragement  concerning 
that  which  should  survive  the  cross.  There  was  for  him 
somewhere  a  better  world  to  which  Christ  would  conduct 
him  after  death ;  for  wherever  Jesus  Himself  would  be 
after  the  dissolution  of  the  body,  there  should  this  believ- 
ing penitent  also  be.  Surely  the  promise  contemplated  a 
state  of  consciousness,  and  a  desirable  state;  since  going 
into  some  gloomy  house  of  detention  or  limbo, — there  to 
be  kept  in  uncertainty  till  the  end  of  the  world — could 
have  offered  small  encouragement  as  the  boon  of  the 
Saviour  to  one  who  offered  such  a  prayer  with  such  a  faith. 
The  prayer  was  remarkable  as  acknowledging  the  suprem- 
acy of  Christ,  and  the  spirituality  of  His  kingdom; 
"  Lord,  remember  me  when  thou  comest  into  Thy  king- 
dom." Here  was  a  soul  touched  with  the  sense  of  its  own 
guilt,  discerning  the  real  majesty  of  Jesus  through  the  suf- 
ferings of  the  cross,  and  anticipating  for  this  despised 
King  of  the  Jews,  a  kingdom  of  power  and  glory  in  that 


170  THE   THEOLOGY   OP  CHRIST. 

invisible  state  to  which  they  both  were  now  departing. 
The  petition  referred  to  a  future  and  spiritual  kingdom — 
a  sphere  of  glory  awaiting  the  Redeemer  after  death ;  and 
the  answer  of  Christ  to  such  a  petition  must  be  interpreted 
in  the  same  spirit. 

The  parallel  expression  in  the  Apocalypse  furnishes  a 
key  in  part  to  this  answer  of  our  Lord.  As  there  quoted 
by  John,  in  promising  rewards  to  those  who  shall  continue 
faithful  in  His  service,  Christ  said,  "  To  him  that  over- 
cometh  will  I  give  to  eat  of  the  tree  of  life,  which  is  in  the 
midst  of  the  Paradise  of  God." 1  To  eat  of  the  tree  of  Life 
is  to  partake  of  immortal  bliss ;  the  Paradise  of  God  is  the 
Paradise  that  God  delights  in  and  blesses  with  His  pre- 
sence ; — the  promise  means  that  all  of  communion  with 
God,  all  of  spiritual  delight,  and  all  of  immortal  hope, 
life,  and  bliss  that  were  lost  by  the  fall,  shall  be  realized 
in  the  spirit- world  where  Christ  now  lives  and  reigns. 

If  we  inquire  more  particularly  after  the  location  of 
Paradise  and  the  phases  of  existence  and  enjoyment  there, 
we  find  little  to  enlighten  us  in  the  New  Testament  Scrip- 
tures. Paul,  in  describing  a  frame  of  supernatural  illumi- 
nation by  the  Spirit  of  God,  says  that  he  was  "  caught  up 
into  Paradise,  and  heard  unspeakable  words  which  it  is 
not  possible  for  a  man  to  utter ;"  2  and  this  Paradise  he 
speaks  of  again  as  "  the  third  heaven  " — a  phrase  denoting 
"  an  exalted  region  of  light  and  blessedness,  or  the  imme- 
diate presence  of  God."  But  where  and  what  this  was  is 
precisely  what  the  Apostle  has  omitted  to  inform  us ;  and 
no  speculation  on  our  part  can  supply  these  omissions  of 
the  Revelation. 

This  much  then — neither  more  nor  less — do  we  learn 
from  the  word  Paradise  itself  as  interpreted  by  Biblical 
usage: — a  state  of  peace,  security,  holiness,  satisfaction,  bles- 
sedness, where  the  presence  of  God  is  more  immediately 

i  Rer.  ii.  7.  ■  2  Cor.  xii.  4. 


SCRIPTURAL   MEANING   OF   PARADISE.  171 

manifested.  But  there  are  other  facts  or  hints  in  the  words 
of  Christ  touching  the  condition  of  departed  saints  immedi- 
ately after  death,  which  may  here  be  grouped  together  for 
their  combined  light  upon  the  question. 

First,  Christ  clearly  taught  that  the  personality  of  the 
soul  remains  in  conscious  exercise.  The  parable  of  Laza- 
rus and  Dives  shows  this;  so  does  the  appearing  of  Moses 
and  Elias  on  the  Mount:  so  do  the  words  of  our  Lord  con- 
cerning the  patriarchs:  "  He  is  not  a  God'  of  the  dead,  but 
of  the  living:  for  all  live  unto  Him."  l 

Again,  the  language  of  Christ  to  His  disciples,  in  view 
of  His  own  departure,  implies  that  directly  after  death  be- 
lievers enter  into  a  closer  union  with  their  Lord.  We  may 
fairly  assume  that  the  felicity  promised  to  the  dying  male- 
factor was  not  exceptional ;  that  such  a  one  as  he  had  been 
was  not  singled  out  for  a  favor  that  would  not  be  accorded 
to  disciples  who  had  given  proof  of  their  devotion  in  their 
lives.  This  presumption  becomes  certainty  in  view  of  the 
assurance  of  Jesus  to  His  disciples :  "  I  go  to  prepare  a 
place  for  you.  And  if  I  go  and  prepare  a  place  for  you,  I 
will  come  again  and  receive  you  unto  Myself;  that  where 
I  am,  there  ye  may  be  also."  2  This  promise  did  not  re- 
late to  that  final  Advent  when  Christ  will  gather  around 
His  person  the  collective  host  of  His  Eedeemed ;  it  was 
spoken  to  the  eleven  disciples  as  individuals,  for  whom 
severally  a  place  should  be  prepared  in  the  "  many  man- 
sions "  of  His  "  Father's  house."  The  consciousness  of  the 
presence  of  Christ,  and  a  participation  in  His  glory,  would 
be  the  experience  of  these  disciples  when  they  should  fol- 
low their  Lord  to  the  unseen  world. 3 

From  these  sayings,  brief  and  fragmentary  as  they  are,  we 
may  gather  that  they  who  die  in  the  Lord  become  imme- 
diately conscious  of  a  nearer  union  with  Christ  than  they 
had  ever  attained  to  in  the  most  devout  and  extatic  com- 

1  Luke  xx.  38.  a  John  xiv.  2,  3.  3  John  xrii.  24. 


172  THE    THEOLOGY    OF    CHRIST. 

munings  of  this  life ;  that  after  they  are  delivered  from  the 
burden  of  the  flesh  they  do  live  unto  God  and  are  in  joy 
and  felicity ;  that  dying  is  only  the  birth  of  the  soul  into  a 
higher  existence  for  which  its  qualities  and  powers  of  in- 
telligent moral  personality  are  at  once  an  adaptation  and  a 
prophecy ;  and  for  which  also,  it  is  prepared  in  character 
by  the  grace  of  God,— so  that  to  be  "  absent  from  the  body" 
is  to  be  "  present  with  the  Lord/'  consciously  in  the  satis- 
fying presence  of  Christ. 

According  to  the  psychology  of  the  Bible,  after  the  death 
of  the  animal  part  of  man,  there  survive  both  the  spiritual 
essence,  which  is  the  proper  personality,  and  the  principle 
of  vitality,  and  this  last  enters  into  union  with  some  form 
adapted  to  this  higher  state  of  being,  some  kind  of  vesture — 
though  it  may  have  no  more  material  substance  than  the 
invisible  ether.  The  Bible  holds  fast  by  Personality ;  the 
human  spirit  is  not  absorbed  into  the  divine ;  neither  does 
it  float  vaguely  into  space ;  it  has  positiveness,  definiteness, 
is  somehow  circumscribed ;  or  in  common  speech,  it  must 
have  a  body ;  not  flesh  and  blood,  for  this  is  forever  put 
away ;  not  yet  the  spiritual  body — for  that  comes  after  the 
resurrection ;  but  a  vesture  fitted  to  a  spiritual  existence ; 
so  that  "being  clothed  we  shall  not  be  found  naked."1 
After  the  dissolution  of  our  earthly  house,  which  is  only  a 
tabernacle — a  temporary  abode — and  which  is  a  burden, 
both  through  its  infirmities  and  by  its  inability  to  carry 
out  all  the  aspirations  of  the  spirit — we  shall  be  "  clothed 
upon  with  our  house  which  is  from  heaven" — a  form  adapt- 
ed to  the  region  of  spiritual  life. 2  Death  will  only  strip  us 
of  our  mortality  ;  it  is  not  ive  that  die,  but  our  mortality; 
and  then  the  soul,  freed  from  the  body  of  death,  will  be 
"  clothed  upon,"  clad  in  its  proper  vesture  as  a  spiritual 
creature — no  longer  of  the  earth  earthy — all  trace  of  mor- 

i  2  Cor.  v.  1-5. 
*  For  viows  of  DMlzsch  and  others  on  this  intcrmecliat*  body,  see  Appendix. 


DEPARTURE   OF   THE   SOUL.  173 

tality  swallowed  up  of  life — the  very  soil  and  smell  of 
earth  gone  from  the  shimmering  gossamer,  in  which  it 
floats  or  flies  through  the  boundless  scope  of  heaven. 1 

The  Egyptians  symbolized  the  departure  of  the  soul  by 
a  bird  quitting  the  breast  of  the  mummy  to  fly  away 
toward  the  Sun.  When  purified  it  returns  to  its  mummy 
with  the  kiss  of  peace.  In  the  great  picture  of  the  Com- 
munion of  St.  Jerome,  while  the  expiring  Saint  is  making 
his  last  Confession  of  Christ,  one  sees  above  him  a  bevy 
of  cherubs  fairly  capering  with  joy  as  they  drop  their 
golden  canopy  of  cloud  to  embrace  the  soul  at  the  moment 
of  its  exit — that  mortality  might  be  swallowed  up  of  life. 

But  while  each  departing  saint,  his  personality  unchang- 
ed, his  spiritual  vitality  untouched  by  death,  enters  with  an 
exalted  consciousness  of  life  and  of  spiritual  powers,  into  a 
blissful  fellowship  with  Christ  in  Paradise — there  will  re- 
main for  him  some  more  glorious  consummation  at  the 
resurrection  of  the  dead.  The  Paradise  to  which  he  goes 
may  be  as  the  park  that  surrounds  the  palace  of  the  king ; 
he  may  have  the  freest  range  of  the  park  and  the  gardens, 
and  may  look  through  the  paling  upon  the  golden  House 
of  Beauty,  and  behold  at  times  the  face  of  the  King,  and 

1  Dante  has  beautifully  pictured  this  ethereal  body  as  investing  the  soul  when, 
at  death, 

It  separates  from  the  flesh,  and  virtually 

Bears  with  itself  the  human  and  divine; 
The  other  faculties  are  voiceless  all; 

The  memory,  the  intelligence,  and  the  will 

In  action  far  more  vigorous  than  before. 
And  even  as  the  air,  when  full  of  rain, 

By  alien  rays  that  are  therein  reflected, 

With  divers  colors  shows  itself  adorned, 
So  there  the  neighboring  air  doth  shape  itself 

Into  that  form  which  doth  impress  upon  it 

Virtually  the  Soul  that  has  stood  still. 
And  then  in  manner  of  the  little  flame, 

Which  followeth  the  fire  where'er  it  shifts, 

After  the  Spirit  followeth  its  new  Form. 

Purgatorio.  xxv.  80-100.  Longfellow's  Translation. 


174  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

hear  the  praises  of  the  cherubim — but  he  must  wait  for 
the  gathering  of  the  whole  company  from  earth,  and  the 
endowment  of  the  spiritual  body  before  the  gates  that 
divide  the  palace  from  the  park  shall  be  thrown  open  that 
he  may  enter  in.  His  blessedness  from  the  first  will  be 
full  even  to  the  measure  of  his  capacity,  but  the  resurrection 
and  his  transformation  into  the  likeness  of  Christ's  glorious 
body  will  augment  both  his  capacity  and  his  means  of 
blessedness. 

The  distinction  is  well  taken  here  by  Nitzsch,  between 
the  believer's  entering  into  bliss  and  his  consummation  in 
and  with  the  whole  body  of  the  Redeemed.  "  The  mere 
duration  and  immortality  of  the  soul,  or  the  bare  deliver- 
ance from  its  earthly  habitation,  docs  not  complete  Chris- 
tian hope ;  for  the  consummation  of  the  individual  is  by  no 
means  perfect,  so  long  as  the  entire  creation  and  church 
are  not  consummated  with  him  and  he  with  them." *  Many 
Scriptures  point  to  the  general  resurrection  as  the  enfran- 
chisement of  the  creation  itself — which  now  waits  and 
groans  for  that  manifestation  of  the  sons  of  God  which 
shall  come  through  the  redemption  of  the  body.  The 
completeness  of  man  in  Christ  will  not  be  accomplished 
till,  by  the  resurrection,  death  shall  be  vanquished  in  our 
bodies  as  it  was  in  His.  That  event  is  set  before  us  as  the 
consummation  of  the  whole  work  of  Redemption  ;  and  the 
period  between  our  departure  and  that  Day  will  be  for  us 
an  intermediate  state — but  a  Paradise  of  intense  delights 
and  of  conscious  nearness  and  fellowship  with  Christ. 
But  the  crowning  bliss  shall  not  be  till  the  resurrection  : 
"  Then  cometh  the  end  ;  when  the  Son  shall  deliver  up 
the  kingdom  to  God,  even  the  Father,  and  God  shall  be 
all  in  all."  2 

In  that  august  day  "  the  Lord  Himself  shall  descend 
from  heaven  with  a  shout,  with  the  voice  of  the  archangel 

1  System  of  Christian  Doctrine  g  217.  *  1  Cor.  xv.  24. 


INSCRIPTIONS   ON   THE   CATACOMBS.  175 

and  the  trump  of  God ;  and  the  dead  in  Christ  shall  rise 
first,  then  believers  yet  living  on  the  earth  shaii  be  caught 
up  together  with  them  in  the  clouds ;"  l  then  shall  go  up 
the  grand  procession  to  the  gates  of  the  New  Jerusalem 
swung  open  in  mid-air — the  trumpets  sounding,  the  vast 
ether  palpitating  with  harmonic  symphonies  j  the  sons  of 
God  shouting  for  joy,  the  very  stars,  ringing  out  silvery 
chimes  for  the  marriage  of  the  Lamb — the  final  consum- 
mation of  all  things  terrestrial  and  celestial  in  the  union 
of  Christ  and  His  church  in  everlasting  joy. 2 

This  view  of  the  state  of  departed  saints  may  well 
encourage  cheerfulness  and  thanksgiving  on  behalf  of 
those  whom  Christ  has  taken  to  Himself.  No  need 
have  we  to  pray  for  them,  seeing  they  are  already  with 
Christ :  no  cause  have  we  to  mourn  for  them,  seeing  that 
directly  they  are  absent  from  the  body  they  arc  present 
with  the  Lord ; — "  Now  that  he  is  dead,  wherefore  should 
I  fast?  I  shall  go  to  him,  but  he  shall  not  return  to 
me."  3 

To  the  primitive  Christians  all  this  was  reality.  They 
have  left  their  faith  and  hope  recorded  upon  the  tombs 
which  they  constructed  in  their  hiding-places  in  the  sub- 
terranean excavations  or  quarries  of  the  city  of  Rome. 
In  those  long  galleries  of  catacombs,  where  the  bodies  of 
martyrs  and  persecuted  saints  were  laid  to  rest,  there  is  not 
one  trace  of  despondency  or  gloom.     It  is  written  over  one 

1 1  Thess.  iv.  1G,  17. 

2  Although  the  details  of  this  description  are  borrowed  from  the  Apostolio 
writings,  the  germs  of  the  whole  conception  are  found  in  tbo  teachings  of 
Christ ;  and  the  words  of  Paul  are  not  hero  cited  as  authoritative — for  wo  are 
concerned  solely  with  Christ's  own  words  as  the  source  of  authoritative  belief 
^-but  as  illustrating  the  meaning  of  Christ  from  the  point  of  a  scholar  and 
disciple  who  was  versed  both  in  the  Jewish  and  the  Pagan  notions  of  Hades, 
and  who  has  embodied  in  one  proportionate  form  the  fragmentary  hints  of  his 
Lord  touching  the  future  state. 

3  2  Samuel  xii.  23. 


176  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHEIST. 

and  another  "  She  sleeps ;"  "  In  peace  ;"  "  With  Christ." 
The  anchor,  the  cross,  the  crown,  the  symbols  of  the  resur- 
rection and  immortality  make  those  dark  galleries  bright 
with  the  presence  of  the  Eternal  Life. 

This  doctrine  should  inspire  the  Christian  disciple  with 
the  glad  consciousness  of  the  nearness  of  his  Lord  at  death. 
The  effort  to  find  for  heaven  a  locality  commonly  results 
in  placing  it  at  an  immense  remove  in  space  and  time ;  the 
attempt  to  define  its  features  and  occupations  results  in 
vague  imaginings ;  meantime  Paradise  comes  floating 
down  to  us,  and  Jesus  steps  to  the  bedside  of  one  whom 
we  think  dying,  and  says  "  I  come  to  receive  thee  to  My- 
self; To-day  shalt  thou  be  with  Me  in  Paradise ;"  and 
could  our  vision  be  purged,  like  that  of  the  prophet,  we 
might  see  the  mountains  full  of  chariots  of  fire.  Heaven 
is  around  us  ;  if  we  are  Christ's,  one  step  and  we  are  there ! 
Then  why  let  earth  trouble,  delude,  engross,  or  detain  us? 
And  why  should  death  intimidate  us  ? 

Christ's  doctrine  of  the  future  opens  before  us  the  gran- 
deur of  the  moral  universe  and  of  the  work  of  Redemption. 
The  science  of  astronomy  has  revealed  to  us  somewhat  of 
the  stupendous  scale  of  the  physical  creation  ;  worlds  cir- 
cling about  worlds,  systems  circling  about  systems,  through 
millions  of  leagues  of  space  ;  light  traversing  immensity 
with  its  ever-repeating  waves ;  the  laws  of  attraction  and 
gravitation  ruling  the  hosts  of  heaven  without  voice  or 
speech ;  and  all  this  ordered  beauty  and  grandeur  obedient 
to  one  Infinite  and  Invisible  Power.  But  this  material 
creation  is  only  the  theater  of  the  moral  universe ;  these 
innumerable  worlds  are  but  the  many  mansions  in  the 
vast  house  of  our  Father,  for  the  home  of  His  children  ; 
this  illimitable  space  is  but  the  field  of  their  activities  and 
joys !  The  physical  may  change  and  pass  away  ;  the  hea- 
vens depart  as  a  scroll ;  but  the  moral  universe  shall  then 
"  grow  resplendent  more  and  more  ;" — as.  we 


GRANDEUR  OF  REDEMPTION.  177 

"  behold  the  hours 
Of  Christ's  triumphal  march,  and  all  the  fruit 
Harvested  by  the  rollipg  of  these  spheres." * 

Then  to  every  one  who  is  found  faithful  to  Christ,  will 
it  be  given  to  "  eat  of  the  tree  of  life,  which  is  in  the  midst 
of  the  Paradise  of  God." 

1  Dante,  Paradiso. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE   RESURRECTION   OF   THE   DEAD. 

Christianity  concerns  itself  for  the  restoration  of  the 
Body  as  well  as  for  the  redemption  of  the  Soul.  To  re- 
deem and  sanctify  the  Soul  is  its  first  office  and  endeavor ; 
but  it  also  cherishes  and  honors  the  body  as  the  workman- 
ship of  God  and  as  the  habitation  of  the  soul,  and  the  me- 
dium through  which  it  acts  upon  the  outer  world,  and 
receives  from  that  impressions  the  most  quickening,  sug- 
gestive and  controlling. 

The  natural  science  of  the  Bible  finds  no  link  of  develop- 
ment from  the  monkey  to  the  man,  but  the  first  man  was 
formed  by  the  direct  act  of  God,  who  "  breathed  into  his 
nostrils  the  breath  of  life." 1  The  philosophy  of  the  Bible 
is  not  that  of  the  Stoics,  who  regarded  the  body  as  the 
antagonist  of  the  soul,  and  its  suppression  or  destruction 
as  necessary  to  the  soul's  perfection — for  the  divine  Word 
was  made  flesh  and  exhibited  the  true  harmony  of  the  body 
with  the  soul ;  nor  is  it -the  philosophy  of  the  Epicureans, 
that  made  pleasure  consist  in  gratifying  and  pampering 
the  flesh — for  it  teaches  that  "  the  body  is  for  the  Lord,"  even 
"the  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost."2  And  this  Religion 
which  so  honors  the  body  in  its  origin  and  seeks  to  ennoble 
it  with  all  care  and  culture  for  the  present  life,  does  not 
cease  to  regaixl  the  Body  when  death  and  the  grave  have 
claimed  it.  The  consolation  it  offers  as  supreme  is  not  that 
the  soul  is  freed  from  its  burden  and  clog,  that  the  lower 
nature  is  dropped  for  the  freer  development  of  the  higher ; 

1  Gen.  ii.  7.  2 1  Cor.  vi.    13,  19. 

178 


VALUE   OF    THE    BODY.  179 

but  Christianity  promises  to  cherish  the  buried  dust  as 
God's  seed-corn,  and  to  give  this  back  again  in  the  beauty 
and  vigor  of  an  incorruptible  life.  Over  against  the  grave 
it  writes  the  Resurrection;  over  against  Death  the  Life 
Everlasting ;  and  Jesus  surrenders  His  own  sinless  body  to 
the  demand  of  our  common  mortality;  yields  up  the 
ghost,  is  dead  and  buried ;  then  comes  forth  in  the  victori- 
ous assertion  of  that  undying  Personality  which  unbars  for 
us  the  gates  of  death  and  the  grave :  "  I  am  the  Resurrec- 
tion and  the  Life."  l 

And  herein  Christianity  shows  itself  in  wondrous  sym- 
pathy with  the  human  heart :  for  much  as  we  are  taught 
that  the  true  life  and  beauty  and  love  are  belongings  of  the 
soul,  how  do  we  cherish  the  body  from  first  to  last.  How 
dear  to  the  mother  is  the  babe  that  gives  as  yet  no  sign  of 
thought  or  speech ;  how  every  tiny  member  of  that  tiny 
form  is  written  in  her  heart ;  what  beauty  she  discovers  in 
just  the  ordinary  beginnings  of  a  human  life;  and  even  if 
her  child  lacks  physical  perfection,  how  does  the  very  in- 
firmity cause  it  to  be  cherished  the  more  tenderly !  In 
riper  years,  though  what  we  prize  as  our  possession  in  a 
friend  is  the  soul — the  mind  and  heart  in  sympathy  with 
our  own — yet  we  are  forever  longing  for  the  presence,  the 
word,  the  look  that  continually  reassure  us  that  we  do 
possess  the  soul.  When  sickness  comes,  how  fondly  do  we 
cling  to  the  wasting  form :  and  when  death  has  snatched 
it,  though  faith  assures  us  that  the  soul  has  gone  to  live 
above,  and  reason  teaches  that  the  body  without  the  soul  is 
nothing,  yet  do  we  count  each  hour  precious  that  we  may 
keep  that  body  near  us,  and  the  last  tie  is  not  severed  till 
it  is  taken  away ;  then  comes  the  "  sorrowing  most  of  all, 
that  we  shall  see  the  face  no  more  ;"2  and  then  too  come  the 
full  sympathy  and  power  of  the  Gospel  in  the  assurance  of 
the  diviue  Redeemer,  the  risen  Lord,  who  stands  weeping 

1  John  xi.  25.  J  Acts  xx.  33. 


130  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

at  our  side,  and  speaks  the  undying  consolation  "  Thy 
Brother  shall  Rise  again."  l 

The  beauty,  the  force,  the  value  of  this  assurance  are 
utterly  broken  by  two  modes  of  interpretation  that  are 
sometimes  applied  to  the  subject;  the  one  makes  the 
declaration  "  The  Son  quickeneth  whom  He  will," 2  a 
figure  of  speech  to  describe  the  quickening  of  the  soul  into 
spiritual  life;  the  other  makes  the  promise  "He  that 
believeth  in  Me,  though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live,"  3 
refer  only  to  the  continued  life  of  the  soul  after  death  has 
terminated  the  life  of  the  body ;  making  the  resurrection 
coincident  with  death, — the  rising  of  the  spirit  into  a 
higher  sphere  of  existence,  where  death  can  never  come. 
They  who  hold  such  views,  like  Swedenborg  for  instance, 
believe  neither  in  a  general  resurrection  of  the  dead  ap- 
pointed for  some  remote  period,  nor  in  any  resurrection  or 
re-habilitation  of  the  present  body ;  but  give  to  all  the 
language  of  the  New  Testament  concerning  the  rising  of 
the  dead,  a  symbolic  meaning,  applying  it  either  to  a 
moral  renovation  in  this  life,  or  to  the  spiritual  emancipa- 
tion and  development  of  the  righteous  at  death. 

We  must,  therefore,  settle  distinctly  the  meaning  of 
words — if  we  would  understand  the  doctrine  of  Jesus 
touching  the  resurrection.  The  word  He  used,  tivdovaatt;, 
was  applied  to  the  act  of  raising  up  or  restoring  that 
which  had  fallen  or  lay  prostrate.  Thus  the  rebuilding  of 
the  walls  of  a  city  thrown  down  by  war  was  an  anastasis 
or  resurrection.  The  wall  stood  in  the  same  place,  and 
was  built  in  whole  or  in  part  of  the  same  materials ;  so 
that  it  was  the  same  wall  restored ;  and  this  word  anastasis 
is  used  by  Homer  and  others  for  the  act  of  rising  from 
bed,  especially  after  sickness.  It  is  applied  also  to  the 
lifting  up  of  suppliants  who  were  lying  prostrate  before  a 

i  John  xi.  23.  2  John  v.  21.  8  John  xi.  25. 


ANASTASIS   A   LITERAL    RESURRECTION.  181 

temple.  Nor  are  there  wanting  instances  in  classic  writers 
where  anastasis,  or  a  form  of  the  same  word,  is  directly 
applied  to  a  rising  from  the  dead.  In  the  Iliad  of 
Homer,  Achilles  driving  the  Trojans  before  him  into  the 
river  Xanthus,  sees  coming  up  the  bank,  as  if  out  of  the 
stream  itself,  a  son  of  Priam  whom  once  before  he  had 
taken  prisoner,  had  carried  away  in  his  own  ship  and  sold 
into  distant  slavery.  Startled  by  this  apparition,  as  if  a 
dead  man  had  come  to  life,  Achilles  exclaims : — 

"  O  strange  !  my  eyes  behold  a  miracle. 
Sure  the  brave  sons  of  Troy  whom  I  have  slain 
Will  rise  up  from  the  nether  darkness  yet."  * 

This  would  be  a  literal  anastasis  of  the  dead.  Again  in 
that  touching  scene  where  the  aged  Priam,  having  heard 
that  his  only  surviving  son  Hector  had  been  wounded, 
ventures  alone  to  the  camp  of  Achilles  to  beg  for  the  re- 
lease of  his  boy ;  (alas,  he  is  already  dead !)  and  the  stern 
warrior  replies : — 2 

"  Sorrow  for  thy  son 
Will  profit  nought ;  it  cannot  bring  the  dead 
To  life  again." 

Here  the  anastasis  would  be  literally  restoring  the  dead 
body  to  life,  which  Achilles  declares  to  be  impossible.  A  like 
example  occurs  in  a  tragedy  of  JEschylus,  where,  in  de- 
scribing a  murder,  he  says, 3  "  When  the  dust  has  drunk 
up  the  blood  of  a  man  once  dead,  there  is  no  raising  it  up  " 
— no  anastasis. 

This  word  then  had  no  doubtful  meaning;  it  was 
properly  applied  to  the  lifting  up,  the  restoring,  the  setting 
back  in  its  place  of  a  person  or  thing  that  had  fallen  or 
disappeared.  As  applied  to  the  dead  it  would  naturally 
denote  a  visible  restoring  of  the  body — such  a  raising  up 
that  it  would  be  felt  to  be  the  same. 

1  xxi.  56,  Mr.  Bryant's  version.         2  xxiv.  557,  Mr.  Bf-yant's  version. 
8  Furies,  664. 


182  THE   THEOLOGY    OF    CHKIST. 

A  belief  in  such  a  resurrection,  pronounced  by  these 
Greek  poets  a  thing  impossible,  had  found  a  lodgment  in 
some  religions  of  antiquity.  The  ancient  Egyptians  be- 
stowed far  more  care  upon  their  tombs  than  upon  their 
houses ;  they  called  the  abodes  of  the  living  inns,  because 
these  were  occupied  only  for  a  limited  period ;  but  the  sepul- 
chres of  the  dead  they  called  eternal  habitations.  Great 
pains  were  taken  to  preserve  the  body  from  corruption  in 
order  that  it  might  again  become  the  habitation  of  the 
soul.  This  is  the  most  satisfactory  explanation  of  the 
custom  of  embalming  and  the  care  taken  to  deposit  the 
mummy  in  a  secret  and  durable  sepulchre.  Upon  some  of 
the  mummy-cases  the  soul  is  painted  as  a  bird  revisiting 
its  former  home ;  and  the  Book  of  the  Dead,1  a  kind  of 
sacred  hymn  which  was  deposited  with  the  mummy,  re- 
presents the  body  as  at  last  awaking  to  the  light  of  the 
sun,  and  exclaiming,  "  Hail,  O  my  Father ;  I  have  come  ; 
I  prepare  this  my  body ;  I  am  not  corrupted  nor  wasted 
away  ;  I  am  not  suffocated ;  I  live,  I  grow,  I  wake  in 
peace." 

The  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body  is  found 
also  among  the  Persians,  as  far  back  as  the  third  or  fourth 
century  B.  C.  in  a  sect  of  Magians  "  who  taught  that  man 
would  revive  and  become  immortal  with  a  fine  ethere?.l 
body,  and  would  lead  a  life  of  bliss  upon  an  earth  forever 
freed  from  the  corrupting  influence  of  evil."  In  their 
sacred  books  a  great  prophet  is  predicted  to  arise  toward 
the  expiration  of  this  world's  course ;  who  will  appear  as 
"The  conqueror  of  death  and  the  judge  of  the  world."  In 
the  might  of  Ormuzd  the  chief  divinity  of  the  Parsee  re- 
ligion, this  prophet  will  awaken  the  dead.  An  objector  is 
represented  as  asking,  "Since  wind  and  water  carry  off 
the  remains  of  the  body,  how  shall  it  be  restored  again  ?  " 

1  See  an  analysis  of  the  Egyptian  doctrine  of  the  Future  State,  by  the 
author  in  the  Bibliotheca  Sacra,  1863,  p.  69. 


THE    RESURRECTION    A    JEWISH    BELIEF.  183 

•But  in  reply,  Ormuzd,  the  divinity,  points  to  his  almighty 
powers  of  creation ;  and  as  he  is  the  creator  of  the  grain 
of  corn,  which  after  corruption  springs  up  afresh,  so  by 
his  power  also  shall  the  resurrection  take  place,  and  but 
once  in  truth,  and  not  a  second  time."  l  It  would  be  a 
curious  inquiry  whether  this  clear  and  striking  statement 
of  the  resurrection  crept  into  the  religion  of  the  Magians 
from  the  same  source  as  the  doctrine  of  Daniel,  who  lived 
in  the  land  of  the  Chaldees  when  he  wrote:  "Many  of 
them  that  sleep  in  the  dust  of  the  earth  shall  awake ;  some 
to  everlasting  life,  and  some  to  shame  and  everlasting 
contempt." 2 

The  belief  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul  had  slowly 
unfolded  itself  among  the  Hebrews  from  a  very  early 
period.  Job  and  David  had  also  foreshadowed  a  resurrec- 
tion of  the  body ; 3  but  Daniel  was  the  first  to  give  this 
doctrine  such  a  positive  form,  and  after  his  time  it  was  the 
commonly  received  belief  of  the  Jews. 

The  Apocrypha,  though  not  entitled  to  the  place  of 
Biblical  authority,  is  nevertheless  valuable  as  a  testimony 
to  events  and  opinions  among  the  Jews  of  its  time.  We 
read  in  the  books  of  Maccabees  *  of  one  who  when  put  to 
death  exclaimed  to  his  executioner,  "  Thou  like  a  fury 
takest  us  out  of  this  present  life,  but  the  King  of  the 
world  shall  raise  us  up,  who  have  died  for  His  laws,  unto 
everlasting  life."  Again  it  is  recorded,  that  after  a  great 
victory,  Judas  Maccabeus  offered  prayers  and  sacrifices  for 
the  dead ;  upon  which  the  historian  comments,  "  doing 
well  therein,  in  that  he  was  mindful  of  the  resurrection ; 
for  if  he  had  not  hoped  that  they  that  were  slain  should 
have  risen  again,  it  had  been  superfluous  and  vain  to  pray 
for  the   dead."5     This   testimony  is   complete    upon   the 

1  Bollinger,  Judenthum  nnd  Tleidentlium,  i.  411.         2  Daniel  xii.  2. 
3  Ps.  xvi.  9 ;  Job  xix.  26.  (?)  4  Mac.  ii.  7,  14. 

6  Mac.  xii.  45. 


184  THE    THEOLOGY   OF    CHRIST. 

point  that  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body  wag 
commonly  held  among  the  Jews  before  the  time  of  Christ  ; 
it  appears  distinctly  in  their  literature  of  the  second  cen- 
tury B.  C,  and  in  the  Greek  version  of  the  Apocrypha 
the  literal  resurrection  of  the  body  is  described  by  the  term 
ana  stasis. 

The  Pharisees,  who  were  accounted  the  Orthodox  of  the 
nation,  and  who  represented  the  popular  belief,  held  to  the 
doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the  dead :  while  the  Saddu- 
cees,  a  much  smaller  sect,  regarded  as  heretical,  denied  it. 
Martha's  confidence  that  her  brother  would  rise  again  at 
the  last  day,  shows  how  common  was  this  belief  among  the 
Jews. 

This  history  of  the  word  anastasis  and  of  the  popular 
belief  in  the  Resurrection,  has  an  important  bearing  upon 
the  case  in  hand.  That  Jesus  taught  a  doctrine  of  the 
Resurrection  all  agree ;  but  some  say  that  He  spoke  figura- 
tively, of  a  spiritual  renovation,  or  of  the  rising  of  the  soul 
from  the  body  into  a  higher  region  of  life. 

But  in  order  to  know  the  true  doctrine  of  Jesus  we  must 
ascertain  the  meaning  of  His  words  in  the  circumstances  in 
which  He  used  them.  We  have  taken  the  word  He  used, — 
or,  if  He  spoke  in  Aramaic,  we  have  its  Greek  equivalent 
— anastasis,  and  have  shown  that  the  great  masters  of  the 
Greek  tongue  before  His  time  used  this  term  for  the  raising 
up  or  restoring  a  person  or  thing  that  had  fallen  or  was 
prostrate  or  helpless — the  object  raised  up  being  the  same 
that  had  fallen:  we  have  seen  that  Greek  writers  used  this 
very  word  to  describe  the  revivifying  a  corpse,  the  anastasis 
of  a  dead  body ;  we  have  seen  moreover  that  a  belief  in 
such  a  resurrection  was  extant  in  the  world ;  that  the  Egyp- 
tians had  it  dimly,  the  Persians  of  a  later  period  perhaps 
more  clearly ;  that  it  was  foreshadowed  by  Job  and  David, 
and  distinctly  announced  by  Daniel;  that  it  became  an 
article  of  popular  belief  among  the   Jews,  and  that  the 


JESUS   PEOCLAIxMED   HIMSELF   THE    RESURRECTION.    185 

Greek-Jews  in  their  version  expressed  it  by  the  word  anas- 
tasis.  Thus  the  natural  obvious  meaning  of  this  word  as 
applied  to  a  dead  person  is  established  by  usage  and  history. 
The  circumstances  in  which  our  Lord  proclaimed  Him- 
self the  Resurrection  and  the  Life  leave  no  doubt  that  He 
had  this  same  meaning.  Lazarus  was  dead :  that  was  a  fact; 
he  had  been  sick  for  a  good  while  ;  so  sick  that  his  sisters 
had  sent  a  messenger  to  Jesus — then  some  days'  journey  dis- 
tant— but  Jesus  did  not  come.  Lazarus  died ;  all  the 
village  knew  that:  he  was  buried,  and  all  the  neighbors 
were  at  the  funeral :  he  was  bound  hand  and  foot  with 
grave  clothes  and  laid  in  a  cave,  and  a  stone  covered  the 
mouth  of  it.  When  Jesus  arrived  Lazarus  had  been  already 
dead  four  days,  and  for  some  time  buried.1  Jesus  said  to 
Martha,  "Thy  brother  shall  rise  again."  Martha  said 
unto  Him,  "  I  know  that  he  shall  rise  again  in  the  resur- 
rection at  the  last  day."  She  here  expressed  what  was  the 
common  belief  of  the  Jews — that  at  the  end  of  the  world 
the  dead  would  be  raised  from  their  graves.  Martha  did 
not  intend  simply  to  assert  her  belief  that  the  soul  of  her 
brother  still  lived,  nor  that  he  would  rise  spiritually  to  a 
higher  state  of  existence ; — all  this  she  believed ;  but  it 
was  the  bodily  presence  of  Lazarus  she  so  missed  and  longed 
for,  and  her  faith  taught  her  that  the  self-same  brother 
who  lay  dead  in  the  sepulchre  would  come  to  life  again — 
hut  not  till  that  far-distant  day  of  the  general  rising  of  the 
dead.  In  answer  to  that  faith,  and  to  confirm  it,  Jesus 
said  unto  her,  "  I  am  the  resurrection  and  the  Life ;"  the 
Resurrection  is  made  certain  in  and  through  Me :  as  I  am 
the  Life,  having  in  Myself  the  gift  of  life,  there  is  vested 
in  Me  power  to  raise  the  dead.  Therefore  He  would  have 
her  not  only  believe  in  the  possibility  of  the  Resurrection, 
and  look  forward  to  receiving  back  her  brother  in  the  last 

1  It  was  the  Jewish  custom  to  bury  very  soon  after  death. 


186  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

day,  but  believe  in  Himself  as  having  power  over  death 
and  the  grave,  and  able  to  give  back  her  brother  by  His 
word.  The  principle  of  Anastasis  was  in  His  life.  After 
this  Jesus  went  to  the  grave,  and  "  cried  with  a  loud  voice 
Lazarus,  come  forth ;  and  he  that  was  dead  came  forth." 
There  was  the  anastasis — the  raising  up  of  a  dead  body, 
by  giving  it  life  again.  The  .Resurrection  that  Martha 
believed  in,  that  she  hoped  for  in  the  far-off  future,  was 
made  present  and  palpable  to  her  senses.  The  event  in- 
terprets the  meaning  of  Christ.  The  thing  done  shows 
what  He  intended  when  He  said  "  I  am  the  Resurrection :" 
I  the  source  and  giver  of  life  will  raise  the  dead. 

Some  will  say,  however,  This  was  a  miracle,  like  His 
own  resurrection,  for  a  particular  purpose — to  show  forth 
His  divine  power  and  glory, — and  not  to  be  taken  as 
proof  of  a  future  resurrection.  But  the  very  end  for  which 
the  miracle  was  wrought  was  to  confirm  Martha's  belief  in 
the  resurrection  at  the  last  day,  by  showing  that  Jesus  had 
power  to  raise  the  dead,  and  would  accomplish  it. 

His  other  statements  upon  this  doctrine  confirm  this 
view ;  as  a  running  commentary  upon  them  will  show. 
First  we  have  the  argument  recorded  by  Matthew,  Mark, 
and  Luke,  in  reply  to  the  Sadducees.  This  sect  denied 
the  common  Jewish  doctrine  of  the  resurrection,  and  they 
thought  to  confound  Jesus,  or  at  least  to  embarrass  Him 
by  their  famous  case  of  the  seven  brothers  who  had  mar- 
ried in  turn  the  same  wife.  They  put  the  doctrine  of  the 
resurrection  in  this  bald  literal  form,  and  asked  Jesus  to 
dispose  of  their  -objection.  It  would  have  met  their  dif- 
ficulty to  have  replied  that  the  Resurrection  must  not  be 
taken  literally  but  figuratively  and  spiritually,  as  meaning 
the  translation  of  the  soul  to  a  higher  sphere, — for  spirits 
could  not  be  supposed  to  enter  into  a  literal  marriage. 
But  Jesus  did  not  take  that  ground  :  He  held  fast  by  the 
common  Jewish  belief  of  a  resurrection,  and  declared  that 


THE    RESURRECTION    TAUGHT    US   JOHN    V.    25.      187 

"  in  the  Resurrection  they  neither  marry  nor  are  given  in 
marriage,  but  are  as  the  angels  of  God  in  heaven ;"  1  that 
is  He  affirmed  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  but  with  such 
a  transformation  in  respect  of  physical  conditions,  as  will 
adapt  it  to  the  state  in  which  angels  live,  a  condition  of 
existence  in  which  the  formal  relations  of  this  life,  while 
remembered  with  joy,  shall  be  no  more  necessary  and  no 
more  desired.  Then  He  went  on  to  assert  the  Resurrec- 
tion as  set  forth  by  Moses  in  the  fact  that  Abraham,  Isaac, 
and  Jacob  would  ever  have  a  recognized  identity  in  the 
kingdom  of  God.  Thus  did  Jesus  maintain  against 
gainsayers  the  doctrine  of  a  proper  anastasis  of  the  dead. 

In  a  discourse  recorded  by  John  2  He  makes  this  doc- 
trine of  a  bodily  resurrection,  if  possible,  even  more  dis- 
tinct and  emphatic  by  contrasting  it  with  a  spiritual 
awakening  from  sin  and  its  condemnation.  "He  that 
heareth  My  word,  and  believeth  on  Him  that  sent  Me, 
hath  everlasting  life,  and  shall  not  come  into  condemnation : 
but  is  passed  from  death  unto  life:"  i.  e.  "by  means  of 
faith  he  receives  a  principle  of  life  which  cannot  be  im- 
paired by  death."  This  obviously  is  said  of  the  spiritual 
life,  the  renovation  of  the  soul :  for  it  is  a  process  now 
going  forward,  and  its  effect  is  seen  in  those  who  believe  : 
"  Verily,  verily  I  say  unto  you,  the  hour  is  coming  and 
now  is  when  the  dead  shall  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son 
of  God ;"  this  awakening  of  men  dead  in  trespasses  and 
sins  is  now  taking  place :  "and  they  that  hear  shall  live  ;" 
all  who  obey  the  gospel  shall  come  to  a  new  life  in  Christ. 

He  then  goes  on  to  speak  of  His  quickening  power  upon 
the  literally  dead;  and  this  with  reference  to  the  final  judg- 
ment. "  Marvel  not  at  this ;  for  the  hour  is  coming  " — He 
does  not  here  say  and  now  is — He  is  looking  forward  to 
the  last  day  ;  "  in  the  which  all " — not  as  before  "  they 
that  hear  " — but  "  all  that  are   in  their  graves"  and  hence 

1  Matt.  xxii.  30.  1  John  v.  25,  seq. 


188  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

literally  dead,  "shall  hear  His  voice,  and  shall  come  forth, 
they  that  have  done  good,  unto  the  resurrection  of*  life,  and 
they  that  have  done  evil,  unto  the  resurrection  of  damna- 
tion." l  Now,  whoso  will  hear  has  life  spiritual ;  then,  all 
shall  hear.  Jesus  is  expounding  His  life-power  as  the  Son 
of  Man.  He  who  now  gives  life  to  the  soul  by  faith,  will 
hereafter  restore  life  to  the  body  by  His  power.  This 
covers  the  whole  ground.  Jesus  Himself  distinguishes 
between  the  spiritual  and  the  bodily  Resurrection  and 
teaches  both  ;  one  now  is,  the  other  is  coming. 

Again  Jesus  specifies  particularly  the  spiritual  life  and 
the  resurrection  as  gifts  to  believers.  "  This  is  the  will  of 
Him  that  sent  Me ;  that  every  one  which  seeth  the  Son 
and  believeth  on  Him  may  have  everlasting  life ;  and  I 
will  raise  him  up  at  the  last  day."  2 

Christ's  doctrine  of  the  Resurrection  was  illustrated  and 
verified  by  His  own  resurrection.  For  the  vague  conjec- 
tures of  the  ancients  touching  the  possibility  of  such  an 
event,  He  substituted  the  certainty  of  the  fact ;  and  while 
philosophy  was,  and  ever  will  be,  at  fault  concerning  the 
mode  of  a  resurrection,  Jesus  furnished  the  key  to  the  fact 
in  His  proper  personality.  This  is  the  feature  that  char- 
acterizes His  doctrine,,  and  removes  it  from  the  category  of 
speculative  beliefs  to  that  of  tangible  facts. 

Had  Jesus  merely  given  certainty  to  the  belief  in  the 
resurrection  as  already  held  by  the  devout  among  the 
Jews,  this  had  been  a  contribution  to  faith  worthy  of  such 
a  Teacher.  Had  He  added  to  this  assurance  of  the  fact 
some  explanation  of  the  manner  in  which  so  great  a  mar- 
vel will  be  effected,  He  would  have  brought  philosophy  as 
well  as  faith  under  the  highest  obligations.  Had  He  only 
repeated  the  declaration  made  in  His  discourse  of  the  true 

1  Here  is  named  a  set  time  for  the  resurrection  as  an  event  distinct  from  all 
moral  and  spiritual  changes. 

2  John  vi.  40. 


Christ's  resurrection  proves  the  doctrine.  189 

bread :  "  No  man  can  come  to  Me,  except  the  Father 
which  hath  sent  Me  draw  him ;  and  I  will  raise  him  up  at 
the  last  day ;" l  this  pledge  to  use  His  personal  power  in 
restoring  the  dead  to  life,  would  have  been  a  satisfying 
assurance  to  believers,  of  their  victory  over  death.  But 
He  went  far  beyond  this,  and  centering  in  Himself  the 
fact,  the  doctrine,  and  the  assurance  of  this  stupendous 
miracle,  He  said,  "  I  am  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life," 
both  are  linked  together,  both  emanate  from  Me,  both 
center  in  Me;  the  Resurrection  is  Life  in  victory  over 
death  ;  and  the  Resurrection  that  rescues  from  death  unto 
life  again  shall  issue  in  the  Life  Everlasting. 

What  a  wealth  of  meaning  is  hidden  in  those  words ! 
Jesus  had  said  to  Martha,  "  Thy  brother  shall  rise  again." 
By  this  assurance  He  sought  to  test  her  faith  in  the  resur- 
rection as  held  by  the  Jews,  without,  as  yet,  announcing 
His  intention  to  restore  Lazarus  to  life.  For  this  she 
must  be  prepared  through  the  development  of  her  faith  in 
the  possibility  of  a  resurrection  ;  and  this  belief  Jesus  made 
definite  and  positive,  by  making  it  individual,  and  meeting 
that  question  of  personal  identity  which  the  heart  yearns 
over  by  every  open  grave.  "Thy  brother  shall  rise 
again ;"  rise  as  thy  brother  to  be  known  and  loved.  "  I 
know,"  said  the  half-believing,  half-wondering  woman, 
"  that  he  shall  rise  again  in  the  resurrection  at  the  last 
day :"  but  that  is  a  long,  long  way  off,  and  by  his  grave  it 
seems  so  distant,  so  strange,  so  misty,  that  faith  almost 
loses  its  hold  upon  it ;  and  in  wondering  how  it  can  be,  I 
hardly  keep  the  confidence  that  it  shall  be, — the  resurrec- 
tion— xohatf  how  is  it? — at  the  last  day — when  shall  that 
be  ?  Then  said  Jesus,  "  I  am  the  resurrection  and  the 
life ;  he  that  believeth  in  Me,  though  he  were  dead,  yet 
shall  he  live."  The  creative  power  that  gave  life  at  the 
first  proceeded  from  Me ;  the  power  of  resurrection  that 

1  John  vi.  44. 


190  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

shall  bring  back  life  from  the  grave  centers  in  Me ;  and  it 
needs  only  that  you  believe  in  ME,  and  distance  and  im- 
possibility vanish  in  presence  of  the  Life. 

"  I  am  the  Resurrection."  This  announcement  makes 
real  and  positive  that  which  had  before  been  a  matter  of 
speculative  faith.  What  life  is  we  know  no  better  than 
before ;  but  we  do  know  whence  life  comes,  and  who  im- 
parts it.  How  life  can  be  renewed  in  dead,  buried  and 
perished  clay  we  do  not  know,  any  more  than  we  know 
how  life  is  given  to  the  new-born  babe  or  to  the  seed  long 
buried  under  ground ;  but  we  do  know  who  can  give  life 
to  the  dead  and  make  that  life  indissoluble  and  perpetual. 
Instead  of  speculating  how  this  thing  can  be,  or  searching 
after  a  principle,  law,  or  process  through  which  it  can  be 
accomplished,  we  look  upon  a  person  who  can  cause  it  to 
be,  and  who  centers  it  in  Himself  as  a  reality.  The  Re- 
surrection is  not  merely  an  event,  it  is  a  power ;  it  is  life 
reviving  and  asserting  itself  again  where  death  had  for  a 
time  suspended  its  manifestations ;  and  this  Life  is  not 
simply  a  fact,  a  phenomenon,  it  inheres  in  a  Person  and 
proceeds  from  a  Person,  so  that  He  not  only  gives  life, 
but  is  the  life  that  He  gives — He  imparts  somewhat  of 
that  which  characterizes  and  constitutes  Himself;  He  not 
only  causes  the  resurrection  to  come  to  pass  in  another, 
He  is  the  Resurrection,  and  as  He  raised  himself  by  His 
own  energy,  so  He  enters  by  His  own  life-energy  into  the 
sleeping  dust  and  raises  that.  The  resurrection  is  but  the 
application  of  life  to  that  which  had  been  dead,  and  He  is 
the  life.  "  As  the  Father  hath  life  in  Himself,  so  hath 
He  given  to  the  Son  to  have  life  in  Himself;  "  1 — a  life 
that  sustains  itself,  and  can  impart  life  to  others  ;  and  so 
"  The  Son  quickeneth  whom  He  will."  2  The  life  is  the 
quickening  power ;  the  raising  up  is  but  one  mode  of  ex- 
ercising that  power  upon  a  passive  subject.     And  when 

1  John  v.  26.  2  John  v..  21. 


RAISING    OF    LAZARUS.  191 

we  have  formed  the  idea  of  one  who  has  life  in  Himself 
the  resurrection  ceases  to  be  so  great  a  marvel ;  it  is  no 
greater  marvel  than  the  first  creation,  or  the  original 
giving  of  life  to  any  creature ;  the  Life  is  the  real  wonder. 

The  declaration  of  Christ  that  He  is  the  Resurrection 
was  borne  out  by  two  marvellous  acts  of  life-power — first 
the  raising  of  Lazarus,  and  second  the  raising  up  of  His 
own  body.  Twice  before  He  had  raised  the  dead : — the 
daughter  of  Jairus  from  the  bed  on  which  she  died,  the 
son  of  the  widow  from  the  bier  on  which  he  was  being 
carried  out  of  the  gates  of  Nain.  The  knowledge  of  these 
and  of  other  miracles  of  Christ  upon  infirmities  and 
diseases  of  the  body,  had  led  Martha  to  feel  and  say, 
"Lord,  if  thou  hadst  been  here,  my  brother  had  not  died," 
and  had  encouraged  her  half-formed  hope  ;  "  i  ,v..oa'  that 
even  now  whatsoever  Thou  wilt  ask  of  God,  God  will  give 
it  Thee."  How  feeble,  unformed,  unreal  that  hope  was 
appeared  in  her  remonstrating  at  the  grave  against  remov- 
ing the  stone,  because  Lazarus  had  been  dead  four  days 
and  must  have  fallen  into  corruption — so  does  intensity  of 
grief  vibrate  between  hope  and  despair.  Jesus  had  sought 
to  educate  her  to  the  point  of  implicit  faith  in  Himself; 
and  the  circumstantiality  of  these  details  prepared  the  way 
for  this  crowning  lesson.  Let  us  recapitulate  the  inci- 
dents. 

"We  know  that  Lazarus  was  dead  ;  that  he  was  buried  ; 
that  his  friends  were  mourning  him ;  that  he  had  been 
dead  four  days  ;  that  the  sister  who  so  yearned  after  him 
that  she  almost  hoped  for  his  recall,  was  yet  unwilling 
that  his  grave  should  be  disturbed ;  and  when  under  these 
conditions  of  seeming  impossibility,  Jesus  standing  by  the 
grave  cried,  "  Lazarus  come  forth,"  and  "  He  that  was 
dead  came  forth  bound  hand  and  foot  with  grave  clothes, 
and  the  napkin  yet  tied  about  his  face," — as  if  startled 
from  a  sleep — we  feel  that  He  who  spake  was  the  Resur- 


192  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

rection  and  the  life, 
the  Resurrection  ;  the  wonder  of  the  Power  is  greater  far 
than  the  wonder  that  it  wrought.  The  people  who  heard 
of  the  miracle  made  this  distinction.  Multitudes  resorted 
to  Bethany  from  curiosity,  that  they  might  see  Lazarus ; 
but  their  wonder  and  faith  were  turned  from  the  man  who 
had  been  raised  from  the  dead  to  the  Man  who  had  raised 
him  ;  and  so  many  became  His  disciples  that  the  chief 
priests  "  consulted  that  they  might  put  Lazarus  also  to 
death ;  because  that  by  reason  of  him  many  of  the  Jews 
went  away  and  believed  on  Jesus  : " — so  much  greater  was 
the  author  of  the  resurrection  than  the  event  itself. 

But  above  all,  Jesus  showed  that  He  was  the  Resurrec- 
tion by  raising  Himself  from  the  dead.  As,  to  the  com- 
mon people,  the  bringing  up  of  Lazarus  from  the  grave 
where  he  had  lain  four  days  seemed  a  greater  marvel  than 
raising  the  young  man  from  his  bier  at  Nain,  so  the  rais- 
ing Himself  seemed  a  yet  greater  wonder  than  to  raise 
another.  There  were  two  reasons  for  this ;  First,  upon  the 
cross  Jesus  had  succumbed  to  death  ;  and  by  thus  yielding 
in  His  own  person  to  the  enemy  from  whom  He  had  res- 
cued Lazarus,  He  had  seemed  to  vacate  His  power  or 
prerogative  of  life.  In  the  presence  of  a  vast  concourse  of 
approving  spectators,"  He  had  been  nailed  to  the  cross  and 
lifted  up :  He  had  expired  of  exhaustion  and  agony  :  the 
executioners  on  guard  had  pronounced  Him  dead ;  a 
soldier  had  thrust  a  spear  into  His  heart :  and  His  death 
being  certified,  by  the  authority  of  the  governor,  He  had 
been  taken  down  from  the  cross  by  His  sorrowing  dis- 
ciples, buried  in  a  new  tomb,  and  the  stone  sealed  and  a 
guard  set  over  it.  Thus  whatever  power  of  resisting  and 
overcoming  death  Jesus  had  shown  in  healing  the  sick 
and  recalling  the  dead,  seemed  to  have  forsaken  Him  in 
His  own  extremity.  Therefore  that  He  should  rise  again 
was  the  greater  marvel. 


MIRACLE   OF   CHRIST'S   RESURRECTION.  193 

And  there  was  a  second  reason  for  this,  in  the  fact  that 
death  seemed  to  separate  from  Him  that  mysterious  power 
by  which  He  had  restored  others  from  death.  When 
Jesus  brought  back  Lazarus  to  life,  He  invoked  His 
Father ;  He  put  forth  His  own  will ;  He  used  some  energy 
or  efficiency  residing  in  Himself:  He  was  the  power  that 
acted  upon  another.  But  now  He  was  undoubtedly  dead 
— a  lifeless  body  laid  away  in  the  tomb — with  no  power 
of  motion  or  of  feeling,  and  no  symptom  of  vitality.  That 
spirit-power  that  had  broken  the  hold  of  death  upon 
Lazarus,  to  human  view  had  utterly  departed  when  on  the 
cross  He  yielded  up  the  ghost.  It  seemed  therefore  a 
greater  miracle  that  He  should  raise  Himself  than  that  He 
had  raised  another.  And  when  on  the  third  day  He  stood 
in  the  midst  of  His  disciples,  the  same  Jesus  with  the  print 
of  the  nails  in  His  hands  and  His  feet,  and  the  marks  of 
the  wound  in  His  side,  this  was  the  sublime,  the  invinci- 
ble testimony  that  He,  in,  by,  and  of  Himself,  was  the 
Resurrection  and  the  Life.  This  it  is  that  gives  to  the 
Christian  faith  in  the  Resurrection  the  freshness  and  life 
that  always  attach  to  a  Person  ;  this  is  not  an  abstract 
dogma,  nor  a  theory  that  might  tantalize  and  bewilder  but 
could  never  satisfy  ; — it  is  confidence  in  a  Person  who  has 
done  in  and  for  Himself  that  which  He  promises  to  do  for 
every  disciple. 

"  He  that  believeth  in  Me,  though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall 
he  live." i  This  saying  applied  to  Lazarus  in  the  first  in- 
stance, as  a  type  of  true  believers  who  had  died  before  the 
redeeming  work  of  Christ  was  wrought  out  to  its  visible 
completion.  Although  Christ  had  not  been  revealed  to 
such  as  the  giver  of  life  from  the  dead,  nevertheless  they 
having  had  that  spiritual  faith  which  is  the  key  to  all 
restoration,  shall  partake  of  this  benefit  of  Christ's  coming: 
such  an  one,  though  like  Lazarus  he  have  died  without  the 

1  John  xi.  25. 
13 


194  THE   THEOLOGY   OP   CHRIST. 

demonstration  of  the  resurrection  that  I  will  give  in  My 
person,  yet  shall  he  live — come  to  life  again  through  Me : 
and  this  promise,  as  affecting  believers  who  had  already 
died,  was  at  once  confirmed  by  bringing  up  Lazarus  from 
the  dead. 

But  there  followed  a  far-reaching,  all-embracing  promise 
for  believers  from  among  all  coming  generations  of  men ; 
"  Whosoever  liveth,  and  believeth  in  Me,  shall  never  die." l 
This  declaration  has  so  staggered  some  in  its  literal ness 
that  they  have  construed  it  of  spiritual  living  and  dying 
— the  life  of  the  soul,  in  its  felicity  being  secured-  by  faith 
in  Christ  as  its  Redeemer.  But  there  is  nothing  in  the 
construction  to  indicate  a  change  from  a  literal  resur- 
rection in  the  first  clause  of  the  sentence,  to  a  spiritual  life 
in  the  second ;  and  if  we  take  this  last  saying  as  meaning 
a  spiritual  life,  must  we  not  follow  Swedenborg  in  spirit- 
ualizing the  resurrection  also  ?  But  our  Lord  applied  and 
confirmed  His  declaration  by  raising  Lazarus  from  the  grave, 
thus  showing  that  He  was  speaking  throughout  of  a  physi- 
cal, literal  resurrection,  a  coming  back  to  life  with  personal 
identity. 

Others  have  understood  Him  to  refer  to  believers  who 
shall  be  living  on  the  earth  at  the  time  of  His  coming, — 
concerning  whom  it  was. a  current  belief  that  they  shall  be 
glorified  or  transfigured,  without  the  process  of  dying. 
But  it  seems  a  straining  of  the  sense  to  carry  it  forward  to 
that  distant  future,  when  there  is  nothing  in  the  context 
that  refers  to  the  end  of  the  world. 

Christ  made  a  promise  of  universal  application  to  those 
that  should  believe  in  Him.  He  had  just  spoken  of  true 
believers  who  were  already  dead ;  these  He  would  redeem 
from  the  possession  of  death,  and  they  as  to  their  persons 
shall  live  again.  He  then  spoke  of  all  living  disciples ; 
all  that  then  were,  and  all  who  should  afterwards  become 

i  John  xi.  26. 


NO  DEATH  FOR  THE  BELIEVER.         195 

disciples :  "  Whosoever  liveth  ;"  every  believer  who  is  yet 
living  shall  be  exempt  from  death  through  faith  in  Me. 
The  interpretation  lies  in  the  meaning  and  effect  of  death 
as  changed  by  Christ's  coming  and  by  faith  in  Him.  "  He 
that  bclieveth  shall  never  die ;"  for 

(a).  To  the  believer  in  Christ  death  has  no  power  of  evil 
either  through  fear  or  through  suffering.  All  mental  dis- 
quietude is  removed,  and  death  as  a  process  of  nature 
taking  effect  in  the  body,  is  a  falling  asleep,  a  rest. 

(I)).  The  process  of  dying  liberates  the  spirit  from  its 
mortal  appendages,  that  it  may  enter  upon  felicity  unquali- 
fied and  unending.  The  physiological  process  of  dying  is 
the  enfranchisement  of  the  spirit,  a  triumph  of  the  life- 
principle  over  that  which  is  mortal.  Life  in  this  stage  of 
existence  is  a  perpetual  struggle  with  opposing  forces ;  the 
elements  that  compose  our  bodies  tend  continually  to  dis- 
solution and  decay.  Even  when  no  disease  invades,  and 
no  accident  threatens,  there  is  a  constant  waste  of  tissue 
that  calls  for  incessant  repairs ;  and  in  the  healthiest  condi- 
tion, how  is  the  hidden  vitality  that  we  feel  throbbing  and 
yearning  within  us,  hampered  by  physical  conditions  or 
fatigue.  But  Christ  has  taught  that  death  is  the  liberation 
and  expansion  of  the  life.  It  is  the  mortal  that  dies ;  the 
spirit  lives ;  and,  moreover,  shall  neve?  die — death  has  no 
more  dominion.  The  believer  will  be  restored  from  the  pos- 
session of  death  as  to  the  body,  raised  up  and  glorified,  so 
that  death  in  the  sense  of  destruction  shall  never  be  accom- 
plished upon  anything  that  pertained  to  him.  Here  the  ques- 
tion of  time  is  nothing  upon  the  scale  of  the  infinite  future. 

How  grand  the  scope  given  to  Christ's  work  of  re- 
demption by  His  doctrine  of  the  Resurrection  !  For  that 
work  the  Son  of  God  came  into  the  world  where  sin  had 
reigned  through  all  the  generations  of  men ;  entered  into 
that  humanity  which  sin  had  made  its  own ;  redeemed  and 
sanctified  this;  went  into  personal  conflict  with  Satan  in  the 


196  THE   THEOLOGY   OF    CHRIST. 

field  of  his  most  successful  temptations,  and  openly  tri- 
umphed over  him ;  invaded  the  realm  of  darkness  and  cast 
out  devils  by  His  word ;  went  down  into  the  grave  to  meet 
death  in  the  field  of  his  unbroken  possession,  and  there 
trampled  under  foot  death,  the  grave,  and  Hades,  and  rose 
in  the  might  of  victory.  Sending  forth  His  Spirit,  He  has 
continued  the  triumphs  of  redemption  in  the  world  of 
human  thought  and  will,  and  He  shall  come  once  more  to 
perfect  His  victory  by  redeeming  the  body  from  the  grave. 
All  earth  and  time  form  one  grand  symphony  of  redemption. 
The  world  is  yet  in  the  andante  movement,  but  a  melody 
of  hope  runs  through  the  solemn  tones,  and  the  time  is 
already  quickening ;  the  final  movement  shall  open  with 
the  trump  that  wakes  the  dead,  and  with  hallelujahs  that 
sweep  the  skies. 

Hence  the  Christian  faith  is  a  finality  in  religion; 
in  respect  of  the  restoration  of  man,  his  development,  his 
blessedness,  it  leaves  nothing  to  be  desired,  nothing  to  be 
thought  of.  It  redeems  man  from  sin,  and  will  lead  him 
to  perfection  of  character;  it  fortifies  him  against  trial 
and  makes  him  the  conqueror  of  death ;  it  recovers  him 
from  the  grave  and  clothes  him  with  a  spiritual  and  glo- 
rious body  like  unto  Christ's ;  it  introduces  him  to  fellow- 
ship with  God  and  the  society  of  all  the  holy  and  bless- 
ed. Thus  linking  man  to  the  spiritual  and  eternal  life, 
the  Christian  faith  gives  dignity  to  his  present  and  glory  to 
his  future.  The  necessities  of  man's  present  condition  bind 
him  much  to  the  material  things  around  him,  while  it  is 
the  tendency  of  his  appetites  and  passions  to  seek  their  grat- 
ification in  the  earthly  and  sensual.  Yet  he  is  conscious  of 
intellectual  wants,  of  spiritual  yearnings  and  aptitudes  that 
show  his  affinity  for  a  higher  life.  These  the  Christian 
faith  meets  with  its  twin  doctrines  of  redemption  and  resur- 
rection. Redemption  delivers  the  spirit  while  yet  in  the 
body,  from  the  dominion  of  the  flesh,  so  that  believers  are 


THE   CHRISTIAN    FAITH    A    FINALITY.  197 

no  longer  "  of  the  world."  1  Resurrection  asserts  the  final 
dominion  of  the  spirit  in  the  body  itself;  He  that  believeth, 
by  that  act  of  faith  is  born  again,  and  by  virtue  of  this 
life  he  shall  never  die. 

1  John  xv.  19  ;  xvii.  14. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


THE   FINAL   JUDGMENT. 


To  the  power  of  Resurrection  Jesus  linked  the  preroga- 
tive of  Judgment.  The  same  Son  whose  spirit  now  quick- 
eneth  the  soul  to  a  new  and  everlasting  life,  and  whose 
voice  shall  hereafter  quicken  all  the  dead,  will  come  to 
judge  the  world;  for  the  Father  "hath  given  Him  au- 
thority to  execute  judgment  also,  because  He  is  the  Son  of 
Man."  l 

In  His  life-time  Jesus  declined  to  act  as  judge  in  cases 
brought  to  Him,2  and  He  disavowed  any  judicial  purpose 
in  His  mission;  "For  God  sent  not  His  Son  into  the 
world  to  condemn  the  world,  but  that  the  world  through 
Him  might  be  saved." 3  The  ruling  purpose  in  the  mission 
of  Christ  was  to  deliver  man  from  condemnation — for  "  He 
that  believeth  on  Him  is  not  condemned," — no  longer 
lies  under  judicial  condemnation  as  a  sinner,  and  shall  not 
hereafter  fall  under  penalty  : — "  Verily,  verily  I  say  unto 
you,  he  that  heareth  my  word  and  believeth  on  Him  that 
sent  Me  hath  everlasting  life;  and  shall  not  come  into 
condemnation ;  but  is  passed  from  death  unto  life." 4 
Even  to  those  who  openly  rejected  Him,  Jesus  said,  "  If 
any  man  hear  my  words  and  believe  not,  I  judge  him  not ; 
for  I  came  not  to  judge  the  world,  but  to  save  the  world."  5 

The  purpose  of  Christ's  mission  was  salvation,  and  the 
whole  tone  of  His  life  was  as  far  as  possible  removed  from 
the  spirit  of  judgment.  But  although  Jesus  so  emphati- 
cally disavowed  both  the  act  and  the  spirit  of  judgment  in 

i  John  v.  27.  2  Luke  xii.  14.  s  jonn  Hi.  17. 

4  John  v.  24.  5  John  xii.  47. 

198 


THE  JUDGMENT  PUBLIC  AND  FORMAL.      199 

His  personal  life  upon  earth,  He  as  distinctly  proclaimed 
Himself  the  judge  of  mankind,  and  His  purpose  of  coming 
again  in  that  character,  at  the  end  of  the  world.  "  When 
the  Son  of  man  shall  come  in  His  glory  and  all  the  holy 
angels  with  Him,  then  shall  He  sit  upon  the  throne  of  His 
glory ;  and  before  Him  shall  be  gathered  all  nations ;  and 
He  shall  separate  them  one  from  another,  as  a  shepherd 
divideth  his  sheep  from  the  goats ;  and  He  shall  set  the 
sheep  on  His  right  hand,  but  the  goats  on  the  left."  ! 

This  scene  represents  a  public  and  general  judgment,  at 
a  fixed  time,  presided  over  in  person  by  the  Son  of  Man, 
whose  decisions  will  finally  determine  the  condition  of  all 
mankind  according  to  character.  Other  declarations  set 
forth  a  special  fitness  in  the  designation  of  Christ  to  the 
office  of  judge,  "  because  He  is  the  Son  of  man."  2  These 
several  points  cover  the  teaching  of  Jesus  upon  the  mo- 
mentous doctrine  of  the  final  judgment.  In  the  scheme  of 
Redemption  proclaimed  by  Christ,  the  Judgment  is  kept 
ever  in  view,  as  a  motive  for  accepting  the  Gospel,  as  a 
warning  against  rejecting  it,  as  the  fitting  termination  of 
the  great  drama  of  human  life,  and  the  final  vindication  of 
the  righteousness  and  the  authority  of  God  before  the  uni- 
verse— an  event  of  everlasting  moment  to  the  moral  his- 
tory of  our  race  and  to  the  government  of  God.  Hence  all 
that  can  be  known  concerning  the  Judgment  from  the  lips 
of  the  Son  of  Man,  has  a  direct  bearing  upon  every  indi- 
vidual not  only  in  his  relations  to  that  distant  future,  but 
in  his  present  personal  relations  to  Christ  and  the  Gospel. 

First.  It  was  taught  by  Christ  that  there  will  be  a 
public  and  formal  act  of  judgment  concerning  every  indivi- 
dual of  our  race.  There  have  been  attempts  to  explain 
away  His  teaching  in  this  particular.  They  who  deny 
that  the  Resurrection  signifies  the  raising  of  the  body  with 
a  substantial  identity,  though  with  refined  adaptations  to  a 

1  Matt.  xxv.  31.  2  John  v.  27. 


200  THE  THEOLOGY  OF   CHRIST. 

spiritual  life — who  would  make  of  the  Anastasis  nothing 
more  than  a  moral  renovation  here,  and  the  liberation  of 
the  soul  by  death  into  a  higher  spiritual  life, — equally 
deny  a  formal  declarative  Judgment,  and  would  make  the 
judgment  consist  in  the  division  of  character  effected  by 
Christ's  word  in  this  life,  and  in  the  natural  progress  of 
the  soul  into  a  corresponding  condition  after  deatli :  in 
other  words,  such  interpreters  hold,  that  the  judgment 
begins  in  this  world  in  the  separation  of  good  and  evil 
which  the  word  of  God  pronounces  and  the  course  of  Pro- 
vidence effects,  and  then  that  this  goes  on,  as  a  natural  law 
of  progress,  into  the  future  world,  there  keeping  separate 
the  good  and  the  evil  from  the  moment  of  death.  Thus 
death  itself  becomes,  as  it  were,  an  event  of  a  judicial  and 
retributive  character  j  and  there  is  no  need  of  further  judg- 
ment. 

Beyond  a  question  these  ideas  of  Judgment  are  not  only 
founded  in  Eeason  and  in  Nature,  but  are  brought  out  in 
the  teachings  of  Christ.  But  in  addition  to  these  obvious 
and  natural  processes  of  judgment,  He  taught  that  there 
will  be  a  positive  act  of  Judgment  proceeding  from  Him- 
self in  a  formal  and  conspicuous  manner.  His  word  truly 
does  judge  men  day  by  day.  This  Jesus  Himself  stated  to 
be  an  inevitable  consequence  of  His  own  preaching, 
though  He  had  not  come  into  the  world  for  the  purpose 
of  judgment.  The  clear  strong  light  of  truth  as  He  pre- 
sented it,  made  more  palpable  the  darkness  of  sin  and  un- 
belief, and  the  perversity  and  wickedness  of  such  as  would 
not  come  to  the  light.  This  is  the  condemnation,  the 
xpiaec,  the  separation,  the  decisive  event,  the  turning  point 
of  character — "  that  light  is  come  into  the  world,  and  men 
loved  darkness  rather  than  light  because  their  deeds  were 
evil." l  Hence  while  he  who  believes  on  the  Son  of  God 
and  comes  to  the  light  is  freed  from   condemnation,  "  he 


CHRIST  S    -WORD    AS    A    JUDGE.  201 

that  believeth  not  is  condemned  already,  because  he  hath 
not  believed  in  the  Name  of  the  only  begotten  Son  of 
God."  1  This  process  of  moral  judgment,  making  plain 
distinctions  of  character  by  the  test  of  truth,  is  going  on 
continually  and  necessarily,  as  often  as  the  Gospel  is 
preached.  It  is  a  judgment  that  no  man  can  escape  :  the 
Truth  pronounces  it  by  shining  over  against  his  character 
and  life,  and  the  man  pronounces  it  upon  himself  by  his 
own  deportment  toward  the  Truth.  There  comes  a  new 
krisis  to  every  soul  so  often  as  it  confronts  the  word  of 
Christ.  Every  word  of  His  Truth  judges  the  soul  and 
compels  the  soul  to  judge  itself.  When  Christ  says  "  Be 
ye  perfect  as  your  Father,"  His  word  judges  us  as  sinful. 
"When  He  says  "  Repent  and  believe  the  Gospel,"  His 
word  judges  our  impenitence  and  unbelief;  the  light  makes 
the  shadows  stand  out.  When  He  teaches  us  to  pray,  His 
word  condemns  a  prayerless  life.  When  He  commands  us 
to  love  God  with  all  the  heart,  He  judges  our  love  of 
self  and  the  world. 

As  with  the  word  of  Jesus,  so  also  with  His  life.  The 
manifestation  that  Jesus  made  of  perfect  holiness  and  of 
divine  power  and  glory,  brought  into  bolder  relief  the  sin- 
fulness of  those  that  rejected  Him,  and  showed  that  what- 
ever their  pretensions  to  piety  they  were  radically  defective 
at  heart;  for  in  refusing  His  teachings  and  rejecting  the 
evidences  of  His  divine  purity  and  power,  they  showed 
that  in  heart  they  had  really  no  love  for  holiness  nor  for 
God.  "  If  I  had  not  come  and  spoken  unto  them,  they 
had  not  had  sin."  Their  aversion  to  what  is  truly  good 
and  divine  would  not  have  stood  out  as  it  then  did  in  their 
consciousness  and  to  the  view  of  others,  and  because  of 
ignorance  they  would  have  been  less  culpable ;  "  but  now 
they  have  no  cloak  for  their  sin." 2  "  If  I  had  not  done 
among  them  the  works  which  none  other  man  did,  they 

l  John  iii.  18.  2  Johu  xv.  22. 


202  THE    THEOLOGY    OF    CHRIST. 

had  not  had  sin;"1  had  not  Christ  appeared  with  His 
wonderful  works  of  divine  power  and  love  attesting  the 
truth,  there  had  been  some  comparative  excuse  for  men 
living  in  ignorance  and  unbelief:  "But  now  have  they 
both  seen  and  hated  both  Me  and  my  Father."  The  same 
principle  of  judgment  was  again  enunciated  to  the  Phari- 
sees who  sought  to  condemn  Jesus  for  giving  sight  to  a 
blind  man  on  the  Sabbath  day.  They  professed  to  have 
the  true  law  of  religion  and  refused  to  be  convinced  by  the 
miracle.  Jesus  said,  "For  judgment  I  am  come  into  this 
world,  that  they  which  see  not  might  see ;  and  they  whicli 
see  might  be  made  blind."2  His  coming  into  the  world, 
His  being  in  the  world,  by  the  normal  effect  of  light  and 
truth  made  a  judicial  discrimination  among  men  as  to  the 
honesty  of  their  feelings  and  the  sincerity  of  their  profes- 
sions toward  Truth  and  God.  "  If  ye  were  blind,  ye  could 
have  no  sin ;  but  now  ye  say  We  see,  therefore  your  sin 
remaineth." 3  This  judicial  process — a  judgment  in  fact 
though  not  inform — a  moral  judgment,  goes  forward  day 
by  day. 

Men  profess  a  regard  for  principle,  for  morality,  for  re- 
ligion,— pride  themselves  upon  their  virtues  ; — yet  when 
Christ  appears  before  them  the  embodiment  of  every  virtue, 
the  manifestation  of  true  goodness,  the  exponent  of  true  re- 
ligion, they  render  Him  no  homage,  give  Him  no  love,  fol- 
low Him  with  no  obedience,  and  so  by  His  Presence  their 
pretensions  are  judged.  But  this  searching,  discriminating 
effect  of  truth  and  holiness  was  not  the  whole  of  the  judg- 
ment meant  by  Christ,  as  is  plain  from  His  own  words;  for 
He  teaches  that  the  self-same  Truth  which  now  reveals 
the  characters  of  men  and  so  far  judges  them,  will  also  judge 
them  hereafter.  "  He  that  rejecteth  Me  and  receiveth  not 
my  words,  hath  One  that  judgeth  him ;  the  word  that  I 
have  spoken,  the  same  shall  judge  him  in  the  last  day"  4 

1  John  xv.  24.         2  John  ix.  39.         3  John  ix.  41.         4  John  xii.  48. 


A   SEPARATION   OF   GOOD   AND    EVIL   AT   DEATH.    203 

The  notion  of  a  judgment  immediately  after  death,  a 
judgment  which  consists  simply  in  allotting  the  spirit,  as 
by  a  law  of  its  own  being,  to  a  condition  corresponding  to 
its  moral  state,  finds  some  warrant  in  our  Lord's  parable  of 
Dives  and  Lazarus.  There  Lazarus  is  pictured  in  a  state 
of  felicity  after  death,  reposing  "  in  Abraham's  bosom," 
and  Dives  in  a  place  of  torment,  whose  pains  he  endures 
while  his  five  brethren  are  yet  alive  in  this  world.  This 
parable  clearly  teaches  these  two  things — that  immediately 
after  death  the  soul  is  found  existing  in  a  state  of  con- 
sciousness ;  and  that  in  the  state  next  following  upon  death, 
there  is  a  wide  distinction  in  the  conditions  of  the  departed 
which  answers  to  the  differences  in  their  characters  in  this 
world.  This  is  virtually  a  judgment;  whether  we  regard 
it  as  the  formal  act  of  God,  or  the  working  out  in  their 
natural  eifects  upon  the  frames  and  feelings  of  the  soul  of 
the  dispositions  formed  and  the  habits  indulged  in  the  pre- 
sent life.  To  the  extent  of  separating  the  good  and  the 
bad  into  distinct  abodes  of  happiness  and  misery,  the  effect 
of  death  is  judicial  and  retributive.  What  the  very  laws 
of  nature  in  respect  of  all  tendencies  and  developments, 
and  the  laws  of  the  human  mind  in  respect  of  memory, 
association,  and  conscience  so  obviously  teach,  is  herein  the 
law  of  God,  and  the  rewards  and  punishments  which  take 
effect  directly  after  death  are  of  the  nature  of  a  judgment 
upon  each  soul  in  particular. 

But  in  addition  to  this  our  Lord  has  set  before  us  the 
picture  of  a  public  and  formal  judgment  at  which  He  will 
preside,  and  pronounce  judgment  in  person.  "  The  Son  of 
Man  shall  come  in  His  glory,  and  all  the  holy  angels  with 
Him;  and  He  shall  sit  upon  the  throne  of  His  glory." 
Now  it  is  true  that  great  providential  judgments  in  the 
course  of  human  history  were  sometimes  prefigured  by 
Christ  as  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man.  Such  was  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  final  subversion  of  the 


204  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

Jewish  polity  and  faith,  concerning  which  Jesus  said : 
"  Then  shall  appear  the  sign  of  the  Son  of  Man  in  heaven ; 
and  then  shall  all  the  tribes  of  the  earth  mourn,  and  they 
shall  see  the  Son  of  Man  coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven 
with  power  and  great  glory."  x  There  were  no  supernatural 
portents  of  that  event ;  its  immediate  effects  were  limited  to 
a  small  territory,  and  after  Titus  had  wiped  out  the  capital 
of  a  rebellious  province,  the  affairs  of  the  world  went  on  as 
before  •  yet  in  its  moral  bearings  upon  the  kingdom  of 
God,  this  was  one  of  the  great  way-marks  of  human  his- 
tory. And  this  pictorial  "  coming  "  of  the  Son  of  Man  is 
used  only  of  certain  signal  and  majestic  events  in  history 
which  the  minds  of  men  instinctively  recognize  as  the  judg- 
ments of  God.  The  grandeur  of  the  event  in  its  moral 
relations  justifies  the  boldness  of  the  figure. 

Again,  the  event  of  death  is  sometimes  spoken  of  under 
the  figure  of  a  master  coming  to  reckon  with  his  ser- 
vants ; 2  for  to  each  individual  the  time  of  death  is  the 
winding  up  of  his  earthly  aifairs,  and  a  summons  from  his 
Lord  to  render  up  his  account.  But  to  represent  the  com- 
mon event  of  mortality  that  occurs  at  every  moment  of 
every  day  as  the  coming  of  Christ  with  great  power  and 
glory,  with  His  holy  angels,  the  sounding  of  a  trumpet  and 
the  setting  up  a  throne,  would  be  a  rhetorical  extravagance 
that  no  Biblical  writer  ever  dreamed  of.  And  however 
each  individual  may  be  practically  judged  at  death,  such  a 
description  as  our  Lord  has  given  of  His  own  coming  in 
the  character  of  Judge  can  mean  nothing  less  than  a  public 
and  formal  act  of  judgment. 

In  the  same  language  He  teaches  that  this  judgment  will 
be  universal  in  respect  of  the  human  race.  "  Before  Him 
shall  be  gathered  all  nations"  3 — all  the  families  of  men  in 
all  their  generations.     This  positive,  formal  and  universal 

»  Matt.  xxiv.  30.  *   Matt.  xxv.  19.  s  Matt.  xxv.  Z2, 


THE   JUDGMENT    UNIVERSAL.  205 

judgment  is  most  clearly  set  forth  in  the  following  words : 
"The  Father  hath  given  Him  authority  to  execute  judg- 
ment, because  He  is  the  Son  of  Man. l  Marvel  not  at 
this/'  said  Jesus,  and  entering  somewhat  into  detail,  He 
proceeded  to  describe  what  manner  of  judgment  this  shall 
be ; —  not  a  judgment  in  this  life,  separating  His  friends 
from  His  enemies :  not  a  judging  of  souls  one  by  one,  by 
assigning  them  their  portion  at  death ;  but  a  simultaneous 
judging  of  all  mankind,  to  follow  upon  the  Resurrection — 
"  The  hour  is  coming  in  the  which  all  that  are  in  the  graves 
shall  hear  His  voice :"  2  that  voice  is  elsewhere  likened  to 
the  sounding  of  a  trumpet,  the  signal  for  decampment, 
which  wakes  the  sleepers  for  a  battle  or  a  march — "  the 
intimation  of  some  grand  catastrophe"  at  hand;  "all 
that  are  in  the  graves  shall  hear  His  voice,  and  shall  come 
forth :  they  that  have  done  good,  unto  the  resurrection  of 
life,  and  they  that  have  done  evil,  unto  the  resurrection  of 
damnation."3  Thus  mankind  will  be  judged  as  in  the 
body  for  the  deeds  done  in  the  body.  God's  dealings  with 
men  in  this  world  will  then  be  unveiled  in  a  convincing 
revelation  of  His  righteousness.  The  interlaced  influences 
of  society  will  then  be  untwined,  and  each  character  be 
brought  out  according  to  its  deserts.  "  For  there  is  nothing 
covered  that  shall  not  be  revealed :  neither  hid  that  shall 
not  be  known.  Therefore,  whatsoever  ye  have  spoken  in 
darkness,  shall  be  heard  in  the  light ;  and  that  which  ye 
have  spoken  in  the  ear  in  closets,  shall  be  proclaimed  upon 
the  house-tops."  4  How  much  greater  moment  will  the 
public  exposition  of  character,  followed  by  appropriate 
awards,  impart  to  the  judicial  verdict  of  the  divine  govern- 
ment, than  would  the  silent  dropping  of  each  individual  at 
death  into  his  appointed  place ! 

Christ  taught  further  that  there  will  be  a  set  time  for 

i  John  v.  27.  2  John  v.  23.  s  John  v.  28,  29.        *  Luke  xii.  3. 


206  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

this  general  judgment.  This  belongs  to  the  very  idea  of  it 
as  public  and  universal. 

In  the  order  of  events  Christ  placed  the  Judgment  after 
the  Resurrection.  He  spoke  of  it  as  that  day, — an  ex- 
pression which  in  New  Testament  usage  denotes  the  closing 
up  of  this  dispensation  and  the  ushering  in  of  a  new  order 
of  things.  There  is  something  that  awakens  awe  in  this 
emphatic  designation  of  "  that  Day :" — "  Of  that  Day  and 
hour  knoweth  no  man,  no,  not  the  angels  of  heaven;"1  "It 
shall  be  more  tolerable  in  that  Day  for  Sodom  than  for 
Chorazin  ;" 2  "  Take  heed  to  yourselves  lest  that  Day  come 
upon  you  unawares  ;"3 — a  Day  selected,  marked,  appointed, 
a  Day  which  like  the  first  day  of  creation,  the  day  of  the 
crucifixion,  the  day  of  the  Lord's  resurrection,  shall  be  re- 
membered when  all  other  days  of"  human  history  are  for- 
gotten. For  this  shall  mark  indelibly  the  calendar  of  our 
race,  as  it  passes  over  from  the  doings  of  time  into  the  issues 
of  eternity — a  Day  so  grand,  so  bright,  so  glorious,  so 
terrible,  that  in  all  the  ages  after  it  shall  be  remembered  as 
That  Day ! 

Christ  announced'  the  judgment  to  follow  the  end  of  the 
world.  "  In  the  end  of  the  world,  the  Son  of  Man  shall 
send  forth  His  angels,  and  they  shall  gather  out  of  His 
kingdom  all  things  that  offend,  and  them  which  do  iniquity, 
and  shall  cast  them  into  a  furnace  of  fire ;" 4  and  again  He 
said,  "  At  the  end  of  the  world  the  angels  shall  come  forth, 
and  sever  the  wicked  from  among  the  just."5 

To  sum  up  the  doctrine  of  Jesus  concerning  the  Judg- 
ment ;  at  a  fixed  period  in  the  future,  marking  so  high  and 
solemn  an  occasion  as  "  that  Day,"  at  the  close  of  the  present 
order  of  things,  the  end  of  the  world,  and  after  the  resur- 
rection, there  will  be  a  public  and  general  judgment  of 
mankind  which  shall  finally  divide  them  into  two  great 

»  Mat.  xxiv.  36.  2  Luke  x.  12.  3  Luke  xxi.  34. 

*  Mat.  xiii.  41,  42.        6  xUi.  49. 


OUR  HUMANITY   IN   THE   JUDGE.  207 

classes,  and  shall  apportion  these  according  to  their  charac- 
ter, to  a  state  of  happiness  or  a  state  of  misery.  It  will  be 
a  crowning  characteristic  of  the  Judgment  that  the  Lord 
Jesus  in  person,  as  the  Son  of  Man,  will  preside  at  that 
august  solemnity,  and  will  utter  the  decisions  that  shall  fix 
forever  the  destiny  of  each  and  all  of  mankind.  The 
Son  of  Man  shall  come  in  His  glory,  and  shall  sit  upon 
the  throne  of  His  glory :  all  nations  shall  be  gathered  be- 
fore Him  for  their  final  award :  He  shall  separate  them 
one  from  another ;  He  shall  set  the  sheep  on  His  right  hand, 
but  the  goats  on  the  left.1  The  judging  shall  be  His; 
the  decision  shall  be  His ;  the  welcome  to  the  righteous, 
the  sentence  upon  the  wicked  shall  proceed  from  His  lips : — 
"The  Father  judgeth  no  man,  but  hath  committed  all  judg- 
ment unto  the  Son."2 

The  Humanity  of  Christ  is  made  prominent  in  this  refer- 
ence to  the  judgment,  as  His  Divinity  was  made  prominent 
in  reference  to  the  resurrection.  The  dead  shall  hear  the 
voice  of  "  the  Son  of  God  " — the  divine  power  and  majesty 
will  be  most  strikingly  expressed  through  the  voice  that 
shall  raise  the  dead;  but  "the  Son  of  Man,"  our  represent- 
ative and  glorified  humanity  in  Christ,  shall  come  into 
view  in  the  solemnities  of  the  judgment.  It  is  easy  to 
imagine  the  moral  significance  of  this  exaltation  of  the 
Christ  as  the  Judge.  His  personal  connection  with  human- 
ity, His  experience  of  its  trials  and  temptations,  His  sympa- 
thy with  its  sufferings  and  sorrows,  will  throw  an  air  of 
benignity  and  tenderness  over  a  scene  that  must  of  itself 
possess  so  much  of  majesty  and  awe.  As  one  has  said, 
"Man  shall  be  judged  by  his  fellow,  by  the  most  gracious 
and  the  meekest  man,  by  man  who  hath  borne  the  sins  of 
mankind,  and  can  have  compassion  upon  his  brethren — so 
that  it  is  Mercy  itself  that  judgeth." — One  may  well  con- 
ceive that  the  same  sympathetic  experience  with  our  human- 

»  Mat.  xxv.  33.        s  John  v.  22. 


208  THE   THEOLOGY    OF    CHRIST. 

ity  that  qualified  Jesus  to  be  "  a  merciful  and  faithful  High 
Priest,"  would  have  some  corresponding  relation  to  His 
office  as  Judge,  bringing  Him  near  to  the  arraigned  in  a 
compassionate  consideration  of  ignorance  and  infirmi- 
ties. 

Moreover,  as  the  truth  of  Jesus  was  the  closest  test  of 
character,  the  life  of  Jesus  the  perfect  model  of  humanity, 
the  death  of  Jesus  the  highest  expression  of  love,  it  is  fit- 
ting that  they  who  have  had  knowledge  of  Him  should 
be  brought  to  trial  at  the  last  before  Him,  and  be  judged 
by  their  feelings  and  actions  toward  Himself.  Surely 
every  complaint  or  even  suspicion  of  severity  must  be 
silenced,  when  He  who  showed  His  anxiety  to  save  men 
by  dying  for  them,  and  who  promised  forgiveness  to  them 
that  hated  Him,  shall  remand  unto  condemnation  for  their 
sins  those  who  would  not  come  unto  Him  that  they  might 
have  life. 1  Their  sinful  unbelief  will  itself  be  their  con- 
demnation, in  the  light  of  the  character  and  mission  of 
Christ,  and  especially  in  the  light  of  the  mercy  that  has 
saved  others  and  would  equally  have  saved  them. 2  There 
will  be  a  fitness  also  in  the  judgment  being  rendered  by 
Him  who  as  the  Messiah  appeared  on  earth  to  manifest 
and  perfect  the  kingdom  of  God  in  opposition  to  the  king- 
dom of  darkness  and  evil.  The  judicial  function  of 
Christ  will  set  forth  His  divine  royalty. 3 

Back  of  all  these  considerations,  as  exalting  and  enforc- 
ing them,  is  the  fact  that  God  was  revealed  to  men  in  His 
paternal  love  and  grace  through  the  Incarnation  of  Christ. 
It  was  through  our  human  nature  as  the  medium,  that 
Jehovah  manifested  Himself  to  men  as  the  Father ;  and  so 
wondrously  was  the  love  of  God  in  giving  His  Son  to 
save  the  world  identified  with  the  grace  of  Christ  in  being 
"  lifted  up  "  for  that  end,  so  entirely  were  the  thoughts  and 

i  John  viii.  21,  21.      2  Matt.  xi.  20-25.      3  Matt.  xxv.  34. 


THE   INCARNATION   A    REVELATION.  209 

purposes  of  the  Father  reflected  in  the  Son,  that  Jesus 
could  say  "He  that  hath  seen  Me  hath  seen  the  Father."  l 

The  being  and  attributes  of  God  had  been  matter  of 
devout  contemplation  in  the  creation ;  had  been  to  phil- 
osophic minds  a  subject  of  speculative  thought ;  had  been 
impressed  upon  the  Jewish  people  by  occasional  appear- 
ances of  celestial  glory,  and  special  acts  of  divine  power  • 
but  when  Christ  came,  men  saw  this  power  over  nature 
over  diseases,  over  the  dead,  over  the  world  of  spirits,  pro- 
ceeding from  a  personal  will,  and  so  felt  the  presence  of 
God  as  a  living,  acting  personality;  they  saw  this  power 
put  forth  for  most  beneficent  ends ;  and  so,  that  goodness 
which  they  had  inferred  from  creation  and  providence, 
they  saw  to  be  the  living  activity  of  the  love  of  God  :  the 
truth  which  they  had  spelled  out  upon  the  pages  of  nature 
and  of  the  human  mind,  or  heard  from  the  lips  of  pro- 
phets, they  now  heard  in  the  clearness,  the  fulness,  the 
majesty  of  the  voice  of  God.  That  holiness  which  Reason 
and  Revelation  had  alike  proclaimed  as  the  sum  of  the 
divine  character,  and  conscience  and  the  word  of  God  had 
required  as  the  condition  of  divine  favor,  they  saw  before 
them,  a  living  example,  in  Him  who  was  without  sin, 
and  full  of  every  grace : — but  most  of  all,  that  mercy, 
which  nature  but  obscurely  hinted,  and  reason  hardly 
dared  to  guess,  and  the  law  had  only  shadowed  through 
its  sacrifices,  was  here  manifested  in  words  of  tenderness 
and  compassion,  in  the  offer  of  salvation,  and  in  the  for- 
giveness of  sins:  it  was  in  view  of  this  intelligible  and 
completed  exhibition  of  the  character  of  God,  that  Jesus 
said,  "  He  that  hath  seen  Me,  hath  seen  the  Father." 

The  Incarnation  was  the  most  stupendous  moral  pheno- 
menon in  the  history  of  this  world,  and  so  far  as  we  can 
imagine,  in  the  history  of  the  universe.     The  physical  fact 

1  John  xiv.  9. 
14 


210  THE    THEOLOGY    OF    CHRIST. 

of  the  Incarnation  was  the  least  part  of  the  miracle :  for, 
that  the  Creator  of  all  substances  and  forms  could  adapt 
Himself  to  any,  were  no  marvel.  But  the  purpose  of  the 
Incarnation  is  the  moral  wonder  of  earth  and  heaven, — 
that  God  entered  into  humanity  to  redeem,  ennoble,  en- 
throne it :  and  this  sublime  wonder  of  the  Incarnation  will 
stand  out  in  Jesus  the  appointed  Judge,  because  He  is  the 
Son  of  Man.  In  that  Day  when  all  nations  shall  be 
gathered  before  Him,  the  surpassing  wonder  shall  be  the 
unveiling  of  that  awful  mystery,  the  Incarnate  God,  the 
Redeeming  Man ;  all  angels  His  servants ;  principalities, 
powers,  and  dominions  gathered  beneath  His  throne  ! 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE   BLESSEDNESS  OF   THE  SAINTS. 

In  the  dramatic  representation  of  the  Judgment  recorded 
by  Matthew,  the  scene  opens  with  words  of  congratulation 
from  the  enthroned  Son  of  Man  to  His  loyal  and  faithful 
disciples:  "Then  shall  the  King  say  unto  them  on  His 
right  hand,  Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  the 
kingdom  prepared  for  you  from  the  foundation  of  the 
world."  l  A  state  of  eternal  felicity  awaits  the  close  of  the 
believer's  life  as  its  appropriate  consummation.  "  He  that 
believeth  on  Me  hath  everlasting  life,"  2 — the  life  of  faith 
sustained  upon  earth  by  the  "  bread  of  God,"  at  death  will 
emerge  from  all  the  limitations  of  the  flesh  into  the  life  of 
perfect  satisfaction  in  heaven  ; — a  continuous  Life — here 
an  immanent  principle,  there  an  immanent  Power  "  equal 
unto  the  angels ; " 3  "  He  that  eateth  of  this  bread  shall 
live  forever." 4  This  promise  of  a  perfected  and  glorified 
life  with  Himself  our  Lord  associated  with  the  commemo- 
rative supper,  embodying  it  with  the  most  expressive 
symbol  of  His  love,  that  as  often  as  we  remember  Him  in 
His  death,  we  may  revive  the  assurance  that  we  shall  be 
with  Him  in  His  glory.  The  sacrament  which  He  insti- 
tuted at  the  first  as  a  memorial,  He  declared  also  to  be  a 
prophecy ;  it  was  designed  to  link  together  in  the  thought 
of 'His  disciples  His  departure  and  His  coming;  to  connect 
His  dying  upon  the  cross  with  their  living  forever  in  the 
kingdom  of  His  Father.  In  the  anguish  of  parting  He 
said  to  His  disciples  "  Believe  in  Me ;  I  go  to  prepare  a 
place  for  you  ;  and  if  I  go  and  prepare  a  place  for  you,  I 

1  Matt.  xxv.  34.         2  John  vi.  47.  s  Luke  xx.  ?>fi.         *  John  vi.  58. 

211 


212  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

will  come  again,  and  receive  you  unto  Myself,  that  where 
I  am,  there  ye  may  be  also."  x  And  the  going  and  the 
coming  He  linked  together  in  this  prophetical  memorial — 
the  memorial  "  This  do  in  remembrance  of  Me,"  2  the  pro- 
phecy, "  I  will  not  drink  henceforth  of  this  fruit  of  the  vine 
until  that  day  when  I  drink  it  new  with  you  in  My 
Father's  kingdom."  3 

To  drink  together  of  the  wine-cup  at  the  Table  signifies 
social  communion — participation  in  a  common  festival  of 
love  :  the  promise  of  Jesus  that  He  will  hereafter  drink 
of  the  same  cup  with  His  disciples,  is  an  assurance  that 
they  shall  then  be  admitted  to  a  visible  fellowship  and  en- 
joyment with  their  Lord — that  He  who  is  now  felt  to  be 
present  at  this  sacrament,  through  the  spiritual  perception  of 
faith,  will  then  be  seen  in  the  midst  of  His  Redeemed, 
welcoming  them  as  His  brethren,  and  diffusing  over  them 
the  glory  of  His  presence  and  the  joy  of  His  own  blessedness. 

The  sphere  of  this  joyous  communion  will  be  the  perfect- 
ed state  of  the  Redeemed  in  heaven.  "  In  my  Father's 
kingdom,"  was  the  time  and  place  indicated  by  our  Lord 
for  the  fulfilling  of  this  promise.  The  "  kingdom  of  heaven," 
the  "  kingdom  of  God,"  as  we  have  seen,4  began  to  be  mani- 
fested upon  earth  when  souls,  brought  into  a  personal 
allegiance  to  Truth  and  Holiness,  were  united  in  a  fellow- 
ship of  spiritual  love  and  obedience  to  their  common  Lord. 
Wherever  such  souls  are  found  there  is  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  already  within  them :  and  wherever  such  souls  are 
joined  together  in  some  visible  bond  of  recognition  and 
fellowship,  there  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven  made  manifest. 
As  yet,  however,  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  but  imperfectly 
established  in  respect  of  its  authority  in  the  hearts  of  those 
who  have  received  it,  and  imperfectly  manifested  through 
any  communion  of  Christians  by  which  it  is  represented  to 

i  John  xiv.  1-4.  *  Luke  xxii.  It).  *  Matt.  xxvi.  29. 

*  Chap.  iii. 


THE    KINGDOM    MADE    PERFECT.  213 

the  world.  The  kingdom  in  its  highest  sense — as  de- 
noting the  perfect  rule  of  the  divine  will  in  a  perfect  com- 
munity— will  not  appear  until  the  final  coming  of  the 
Son  of  Man. 

It  is  of  a  time  after  the  end  of  the  world,  after  death, 
and  the  resurrection  and  the  judgment — the  time  when 
"  the  Son  of  man  shall  send  forth  his  angels  to  gather  out 
of  His  kingdom  all  things  that  offend  "  l — that  Jesus  has 
declared,  "Then  shall  the  righteous  shine  forth  as  the  sun 
in  the  kingdom  of  their  Father."2  The  Master  of  the 
house  shall  "  thrust  out  all  workers  of  iniquity,"  separat- 
ing the  false  from  the  true,  and  then  shall  Abraham,  and 
Isaac,  and  Jacob,  and  all  the  prophets  abide  in  the  king- 
dom of  God  3 — in  a  state  of  purity  and  felicity  that  no  sin 
nor  trouble  shall  ever  invade :  the  kingdom  of  God  puri- 
fied of  all  the  accidents  of  evil  that  have  attached  them- 
selves to  its  external  development  in  this  world,  shall  then 
stand  forth  in  its  essential  beauty  and  glory.  That  state 
of  perfected  character  and  beatified  existence  which  the 
Scriptures  describe  as  Heaven,  our  Lord  here  styles  His 
Father's  kingdom.  It  will  be  the  crowning  honor  and 
felicity  of  the  saints  in  heaven,  that  the  Lord  Jesus  will 
then  make  Himself  known  as  their  friend  and  companion, 
receiving  them  into  a  personal  fellowship,  and  sharing 
with  them  as  at  a  high  festival,  His  peculiar  glory  as  the 
Son  of  Man.  In  that  richness  of  immediate  personal  in- 
tercourse, in  that  fulness  of  love  made  visible  by  the  shar- 
ing of  all  its  gifts,  will  Jesus  fulfill  His  parting  word  to 
His  disciples,  "  I  will  drink  new  wine  with  you  in  my 
Father's  kingdom." 

The  cup  of  communion  at  that  feast  will  have  a  new 
flavor,  and  will  sparkle  with  fresh  delights — a  flavor  that 
will  not  as  now  reach  the  soul  through  the  senses,  but 
shall  convey  direct  from  soul  to  soul  the  very  essence  of 

i  Matt;,  xiii.  41  .     *Matt.  xiii.  43.  3  Luke  xiii.  25,  30. 


214  THE    THEOLOGY    OF    CHRIST. 

love  and  bliss ; — the  wine  of  life  pressed  from  immortal 
fruits,  and  imparting  the  purity,  tone,  and  freshness  of 
celestial  joy.  It  will  be  a  "  new  "  and  more  exalted  mode 
of  spiritual  intercourse ; — where  now  this  cup,  as  a  symbol, 
addresses  the  imagination  and  helps  us  to  conceive  of  Jesus 
as  spiritually  communing  with  us,  there  Jesus  will  give  us 
in  His  own  person  the  tokens  of  fellowship  that  shall 
cause  us  to  realize  that  we  are  with  Him  and  possess 
Him  forever. 

It  will  be  new,  also,  as  the  cup  of  greeting  differs  from 
the  cup  of  parting.  In  the  cup  of  parting  we  give  all 
good  wishes,  all  kindly  feelings,  and  pledge  ourselves  to 
mutual  remembrance,  and  to  sympathetic,  spiritual  com- 
muning ;  yet  with  all  this  there  is  blended  a  feeling  of 
sadness  at  the  separation.  But  in  the  cup  of  greeting,  we 
cannot  stay  to  speak  of  good  wishes  and  good  feelings,  and 
promises  of  fidelity,  for  the  joy  we  have  in  coming  to- 
gether face  to  face.  The  new  wine  will  beam  with  the  re- 
flection of  that  joy. 

And  this  parting  promise  seems  to  foreshadow  a  pecu- 
liar joy  of  Christ  in  the  fellowship  of  His  redeemed  held 
in  reserve,  as  it  were,  until  that  day  of  reunion.  This  cup 
of  blessing  He  does  .not  share  with  the  angels.  There  are 
sympathies  and  communings,  tender  and  inexpressible 
Mendings  of  soul  between  Jesus  and  His  disciples,  which 
only  the  Humanity  that  Pie  redeemed  can  know.  Hence 
the  significance  of  the  negative  as  well  as  the  positive 
terms  of  the  promise ;  "  I  will  not  drink  henceforth  of 
this  fruit  of  the  vine,  until  that  Day  when  I  drink  it  new 
with  you  in  My  Father's  kingdom." 

And  there  is  another  deep  spiritual  meaning  here : 
namely  that  the  saints  in  heaven  shall  forever  refer  their  feli- 
city to  the  Redemption  wrought  for  them  by  Jesus  through 
His  death  upon  the  cross.  Upon  the  eve  of  offering  Him- 
self up  for  their  redemption,  Christ  gave  to  all  who  should 


THE    FESTIVAL   OF    REDEMPTION.  215 

believe  on  His  name,  this  cup  as  the  symbol  and  memorial 
of  His  blood  "  shed  for  the  remission  of  sins."  "With  the 
parting  injunction  "This  do  in  remembrance  of  Me,"  He 
coupled  the  promise  of  meeting  them  again  in  the  higher 
fellowship  of  heaven.  But  there  too,  the  joy  of  meeting 
their  Lord,  the  bliss  of  being  saved,  would  be  presented 
under  the  symbol  of  a  cup ;  and  though  the  wine  would  be 
new — the  first  interview  there  in  wonderful  contrast  with 
the  parting  here — yet  would  the  wine,  the  cup,  link  all 
the  blessedness  of  that  reunion  in  heaven,  to  the  tender 
memories  of  the  sacrifice  on  earth — link  the  salvation 
yonder  to  the  Redemption  here ;  and  so,  in  the  long  in- 
terval Jesus  Himself  will  not  partake  of  the  cup,  until  the 
memorial  of  suffering  shall  be  transformed  into  the  greet- 
ing of  reunion,  with  all  "  the  travail  of  His  soul "  1  gath- 
ered about  Him  in  His  Father's  kingdom. 

Under  this  exquisite  figure  of  a  festival  of  love  begun 
on  earth  to  be  renewed  and  perfected  in  heaven,  did  the 
Lord  Jesus  set  forth  the  fruits  of  His  redemption  to  all 
believers.  His  doctrine  of  the  Final  State  of  the  Right- 
eous is  that,  after  the  Resurrection  and  the  Judgment,  they 
shall  dwell  in  perfect  bliss  and  glory,  amid  the  constant 
tokens  of  His  presence  and  love.  However  high  their 
joys  in  the  intervening  Paradise,  there  must  come  to  them 
some  wondrous  augmentation  when  the  Son  of  Man  sit- 
ting on  the  Throne  of  His  glory,  with  all  nations  gath- 
ered before  Him, — shall  say  unto  them  upon  His  right 
hand,  "  Come  ye  blessed  of  My  Father,  inherit  the  king- 
dom prepared  for  you  from  the  foundation  of  the  world;"  2 
— blessed  with  the  Saviour's  welcome,  blessed  with  His 
immediate  presence,  blessed  of  His  Father,  possessors  of 
that  "  kingdom  "  for  which  they  were  created  at  the  first 
in  the  divine  image,  and  were  renewed  as  the  spiritual 
sons  of  God. 

i  Isaiah  liii.  11.  *  Matt.  xxt.  U. 


216  THE    THEOLOGY    OF    CHRIST. 

A  collocation  of  the  words  of  Christ  touching  the  final 
state  of  all  believers  teaches  as  the  sum  of  His  doctrine: 

(a).  That  one  element  in  that  state  of  blessedness  which 
is  promised  them  hereafter  will  be  the  near  Presence  of  the 
Lord  of  their  life  and  love.  "  I  go,"  said  He,  "  to  prepare  a 
place  for  you,  and  I  will  come  again  and  receive  you  unto 
Myself,  that  where  I  am,  there  ye  may  be  also."  1  In  His 
last  prayer  for  His  disciples  Jesus  anticipated  their  coming 
to  be  with  Himself,  and  His  desire  for  this  breathed  to 
the  Father  was  also  the  determination  of  that  will  which 
was  always  the  will  of  God.  He  was  about  to  return  to 
that  visible  glory  and  blessedness  in  the  heavenly  man- 
sions, which  He  had  with  the  Father  before  the  world 
was ;  but  that  glory  would  henceforth  be  brightened  by 
His  work  of  Redemption,  and  by  the  participation  of  His 
followers  in  the  triumphs  of  His  Resurrection :  "  Father,  I 
will  that  they  whom  Thou  hast  given  Me  be  with  Me 
where  I  am ;  that  they  may  behold  My  glory  which  Thou 
hast  given  Me."  2 

The  victorious  leader  of  the  American  army,  the  second 
saviour  of  his  country,  with  an  honest  pride  summoned  his 
son  from  West  Point  to  witness  his  inauguration  as  Presi- 
dent, that  he  might,  behold  and  enjoy  his  father's  honor; 
yet  the  son  of  the  President  could  share  the  glory  of  his 
father  only  through  its  reflection  upon  him  morally ; 
nothing  of  the  military  renown,  nor  of  the  political  distinc- 
tion was  his ;  and  when  the  father's  term  of  office  shall 
expire,  the  son  will  be  of  no  more  consequence  in  Wash- 
ington than  any  other  man.  But  the  beholding  of  Christ's 
glory  promised  to  His  disciples  is  a  sharing  as  well  as  a 
seeing ;  for  Jesus  has  so  identified  Himself  with  His 
Church  that  His  glory  will  pervade  His  people  as  being 
identified  with  Himself.  "I  am  glorified  in  them;" 3  "X  in 
them  and  Thou  in  Me."  4 

1  John  xiv.  3.  2  John  xvii.  24. 

8  John  xvii.  10.  *  John  xvii.  23. 


FREEDOM  AND  POWER  OF  THE  REDEEMED.    217 

(6).  A  second  element  in  this  coming  blessedness  will  be 
the  exaltation  of  believers  in  honor,  through  their  union  with 
Christ  They  shall  "  inherit  a  kingdom  ; "  not  only  shall 
they  find  themselves  amid  the  visible  splendors  of  the 
kingdom  of  God,  bathing  in  the  light  and  glory  of  His 
presence;  but  they  shall  know  that  all  this  is  theirs  for  an 
eternal  possession.  All  that  God  can  communicate  to 
them  of  honor  and  blessing,  filling  their  nature  to  reple- 
tion, shall  be  theirs.  He  made  man  at  the  beginning  to 
have  dominion  over  other  works  of  His  hands:  He 
crowned  him  with  glory  and  honor  and  put  all  things 
under  his  feet. l  But  man  uncrowned  himself  by  sin — 
subjecting  his  soul  with  its  divine  instincts  of  knowledge 
and  spiritual  power,  to  the  dictation  of  the  body  and  its 
appetites,  he  cast  away  his  lordship  over  nature,  and  be- 
came its  servant.  By  redeeming  man  from  sin,  Christ  has 
restored  him  to  that  spiritual  power  and  dominion  which 
from  the  foundation  of  the  world  were  designed  to  be  his ; 
and  into  the  fulness  of  that  kingdom  the  Redeemed  shall 
enter  in  the  heavenly  state ;  dominion  over  the  powers  of 
nature,  so  that  nothing  shall  harm  them ;  dominion  over 
evil  spirits  so  that  these  shall  no  more  tempt  them ;  do- 
minion over  time  and  space  through  the  powers  of  an 
unwearying  and  unending  life. 

"Kingdom"  is  not  mere  position  and  sphere  of  action, 
but  the  consciousness  of  power,  of  capacity  and  exaltation ; 
"The  kingdom  of  God  is  within  you."  Could  we  for 
instance,  transport  ourselves,  without  external  helps,  at  our 
own  will,  from  star  to  star,  we  should  have  the  kingdom 
over  space ;  the  spirit-power  would  control  distance,  gravi- 
tation, all  th'at  pertains  to  motion  and  place.  Some  such 
joyous  freedom  of  conscious  power  in  respect  of  nature  and 
her  laws,  may  be  a  portion  of  the  kingdom  of  the  saints. 

(r).  Another  element  of  the  final  state  of  the  righteous 
as  promised  by  Christ  is,  that  they  shall  have  tJie  approving 

1  Ps.  viii.  <>. 


218  THE   THEOLOGY   OF    CHRIST. 

benediction  of  His  Father,  and  so  shall  dwell  in  conscious 
fellowship  with  God.  "  Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father."  l 
"  Then  shall  the  righteous  shine  forth  as  the  sun  in  the 
kingdom  of  their  Father."  2  To  be  acknowledged  as  chil- 
dren of  God  denotes  the  completeness  of  the  restoration 
which  Christ  has  accomplished  in  believers.  Sin  severed 
the  spiritual  union  of  the  soul  with  God  and  effaced  His 
spiritual  likeness;  sin  made  man  no  longer  a  child  of  God 
save  in  origiu  and  name;  and  so  completely  does  a  moral 
resemblance  set  aside  all  resemblance  by  mere  derivation  or 
title,  that  to  the  Jews  who,  while  calling  themselves  the 
children  of  God,  denied  the  truth  and  the  Son  of  God,  Jesus 
said  "  Ye  are  of  your  Father,  the  devu."  3  But  to  them  that 
believed  on  His  name,  Jesus  imparted  the  glory  of  a 
sonship  in  privilege  and  promise  analogous  to  His  own : 
"  The  glory  which  Thou  gavest  Me  I  have  given  them ; 
that  they  may  be  one,  even  as  we  are  one."  *  This  filial 
relationship  will  be  acknowledged  and  crowned  with  open 
benediction  in  that  heavenly  home.  Then  shall  be  ful- 
filled in  its  highest  meaning  that  declaration  of  Christ,  "  He 
that  loveth  Me  shall  be  loved  of  My  Father."  5  "  For  the 
Father  Himself  loveth  you,  because  ye  have  loved  Me,  and 
believed  that  I  came  out  from  God."  6  As  one  has  said, 
"  God  neither  hopes  nor  believes,  but  knows  and  loves ;" 
therefore  love  is  greater  than  faith  or  hope,  because  it  does 
not,  like  these,  only  relate  to  God  as  an  object,  but  belongs 
to  God  as  a  nature,  so  that  in  loving  Him  we  share  Him 
also.  That  beatific  union  Christ  will  proclaim  at  "  that 
Day ;"  saying,  "  Come,  blessed  of  My  Father." 

And  His  Father  is  their  Father  also.  While  they  were 
yet  in  this  world,  if  we  may  so  speak,  He  had  appropriated 
them  as  children ;  they  had  come  to  Him  because  the 
Father  drew  them  ;  receiving  the  Spirit  of  Christ  they  had 

1  Matt.  xxv.  34.  2  Matt.  xiii.  43. 

3  John  viii.  44.  *  John  xvii.  22. 

6  John  xiv.  21.  «  John  xvi.  27. 


THE    FEATURES    OF    HEAVENLY    BLISS.  219 

become  "the  children  of  the  Highest,"  x  and  now  the  un- 
speakable blessedness  of  heaven,  in  the  reciprocative  love 
of  God,  shall  be  theirs  by  the  gift  of  the  Father. 

Other  elements  of  heavenly  felicity  are  set  forth  in  the 
writings  of  the  apostles,  especially  by  Paul  and  John ;  but 
the  plan  of  this  treatise  restricts  us  to  the  personal  teachings 
of  our  Lord,  and  therefore  we  enumerate  only  those  features 
of  heaven  which  Jesus  Himself  has  delineated.  For  the 
same  reason  we  refrain  from  all  speculation  upon  the  nature 
of  existence  in  the  heavenly  state  and  its  modes  of  occupa- 
tion and  enjoyment.  We  would  not  introduce  one  breath 
of  mere  conjecture  to  mar  the  serene  beauty  and  dignity  of 
the  declarations  of  Christ.  Yet  few  and  brief  as  those 
declarations  are,  what  higher  heaven  can  we  conceive  than 
Jesus  has  promised,  in  a  perpetual  feast  of  love  and  joy, 
under  new  conditions  of  existence,  not  subject  to  partings 
and  sorrows ;  in  His  own  near  and  abiding  Presence ;  in 
the  sharing  of  His  glory ;  in  the  honor  of  a  kingdom ;  in 
the  blessing  of  His  Father,  and  a  welcome  to  all  the  good 
His  love  can  provide  and  all  the  joy  that  it  can  bring. 

This  blessedness  is  traced  directly  to  His  Redemption. 
This  cup — the  New  Testament  in  His  blood  shed  for  the 
remission  of  sins — will  be  brought  into  remembrance  at 
the  threshold  of  that  heavenly  festival,  because  only  by 
that  blood  could  we  have  remission,  and  only  through  re- 
mission of  sins  can  we  have  life  and  heaven.  "  As  Moses 
lifted  up  the  serpent  in  the  wilderness  even  so  must  the  Son 
of  Man  be  lifted  up  that  whosoever  believeth  in  Him  should 
not  perish,  but  have  eternal  life." 2 

But  though  Christ  Himself  is  the  only  door  into  heaven, 
and  no  man  cometh  to  the  Father  but  by  Him,3  yet  there 
are  conditions  of  mind  and  of  action  to  be  fulfilled  on  our 
part,  in  order  that  we  may  be  numbered  with  the  saved. 
Two  such  conditions  Christ  Himself  laid  down  with  empha- 

1  Luke  vi.  35.  2  John  iii.  14,  15.  3  John  xiv.  6. 


220  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

sis  in  His  solemn  description  of  the  last  Judgment  and  the 
awards  that  shall  follow  it ;  these  are,  confessing  the  name 
of  Christ,  and  acting  from  the  love  of  Christ.  "  Whoso- 
ever shall  confess  Me  before  men,  him  will  I  confess  also 
before  My  Father  Avhich  is  in  heaven.  But  whosoever 
shall  deny  Me  before  men,  him  will  I  also  deny  before  My 
Father  which  is  in  heaven."  1  This  confessing  may  take 
many  different  forms,  and  it  is  not  the  form  of  it  that  is  es- 
sential as  a  condition,  but  the  thing  itself  as  truly  and  heartily 
done — not  making  a  confession,  but  confessing  Christ. 
To  confess  Christ  is  first  of  all  to  acknowledge  Him  in  the 
soul  as  Redeemer  and  Lord ;  to  confess  one's  need  of  Him 
to  take  away  sin ;  to  confess  one's  dependence  upon  Him 
for  salvation ;  to  confess  one's  admiration  of  Him  and 
homage  toward  Him  ;  to  confess  Him  with  the  full  sur- 
render of  heart  and  life  to  His  service.  And  one  must 
likewise  confess  Him  before  men ;  by  a  Christian  tone  and 
spirit  in  the  family  and  in  society ;  by  Christian  principles 
in  business  and  a  Christian  deportment  in  the  common 
life.  And  in  addition  to  these  modes  of  confessing  Christ, 
one  should  honor  Him  by  some  sort  of  public  acknowledg- 
ment and  testimony.  The  obvious  way  of  making  such 
confession  is  to  join  His  Church ;  and  if  one's  reason  for 
not  doing  this  is  an  unwillingness  to  confess  Christ,  how 
can  such  an  one  hope  that  Christ  will  confess  him  ? 

The  other  condition  of  admission  to  the  heavenly  blessed- 
ness is  a  life  of  active  benevolence  prompted  by  love  to 
Christ.  In  the  commendation  bestowed  upon  the  right- 
eous in  the  day  of  judgment,  their  welcome  to  the  kingdom 
seems  to  proceed  upon  the  ground  of  the  good  works  they 
had  done. 2  Did  our  Lord  then  teach  or  imply  a  doctrine 
of  salvation  by  works,  or  of  merit  ?  The  very  statement 
contradicts  that  supposition ;  for  they  who  do  such  works 
have  no  thought  of  merit  in  them ;  they  are  astonished  and 

i  Hat.  x.  32,  33.  2  Matt.  xxv.  34-37. 


RELATION   OF   WOEKS   TO  SALVATION.  221 

overwhelmed  at  the  enumeration ;  "  Lord,  when  saw  we 
Thee  an  hungered  and  fed  Thee?  or  thirsty,  and  gave 
Thee  drink."  x  What  they  did  was  not  in  the  endeavor  to 
merit  heaven,  or  to  work  out  or  work  up  a  salvation,  but 
was  the  acting  out  of  a  true  love  to  Christ  in  dependence 
upon  Him.  These  good  works  were  not  meritorious  but 
evidential :  "  The  works  of  love  performed  by  the  righteous 
are  the  proofs  by  which  they  evince  their  calling  to  the 
kingdom  of  God.  As  works  of  true  love  these  presuppose 
living  faith :  faith  and  love  are  as  inseparable  as  fire  and 
warmth  :  the  one  cannot  exist  in  its  real  nature  without  the 
other.  External  actions  of  charity  may  be  dead  works ; 
but  our  Lord  speaks  of  the  affluence  of  the  inward  tide  of 
love  in  acts  of  holy  charity."  "Ye  have  done  it  unto 
Me  :" — without  thought  of  personal  reward,  without  a  cal- 
culation of  merit,  under  the  promptings  of  the  Saviour's 
love,  they  had  carried  out  His  spirit  in  ministering  to 
others.  To  act  in  all  things  from  love  to  Christ  denotes 
that  vital  union  with  Christ  which  qualifies  the  participant 
for  the  felicity  of  heaven.  And  since  heaven  consists  more 
in  spirit  than  in  place,  more  in  character  than  in  condi- 
tion, this  doing  the  will  of  Christ  in  the  daily  life  is  not 
so  much  a  formal  preparation  for  the  life  to  come,  as  it  is 
the  present  experience  of  that  principle  of  holy  living 
which  shall  find  its  proper  consummation  in  the  Life  Ever- 
lasting. 

1  Matt.  xxv.  37. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

FUTURE   PUNISHMENT. 

"We  have  traced  the  doctrine  of  Christ  step  by  step  from 
His  first  preaching  of  the  necessity  of  repentance  and  the 
new  birth,  and  His  promise  of  eternal  life  to  all  who 
should  believe  upon  the  Son  of  Man  as  lifted  up  upon  the 
cross,  to  the  announcement  of  the  day  in  which  He  will 
come  again  to  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead  ;  and  pausing 
as  it  were  at  the  threshold  of  the  eternal  state,  we  have 
heard  the  words  of  final  greeting,  "  Come,  ye  blessed  of 
My  Father,  enter  into  the  kingdom  prepared  for  you  from 
the  foundation  of  the  world."1  Would  that  we  might  close 
our  contemplation  of  that  scene  with  these  thrilling  words 
of  invitation! — that  there  were  no  alternative  to  be  looked 
upon,  no  contrast  to  the  picture  that  Christ  has  given  of 
Himself  embosomed  in  the  midst  of  His  glorified  disciples 
at  the  festival  of  the  new  wine,  the  feast  of  immortal  life 
and  love  in  His  Father's  kingdom.  But  since  He  has 
stated  the  alternative  and  drawn  the  contrast,  we  must  fol- 
low His  teachings  in  all  fidelity  to  the  end.  Already  at 
the  beginning  of  His  ministry,  in  the  first  proclamation  of 
the  Gospel,  the  alternative  was  presented,  the  contrast  was 
foreshadowed.  He  came  that  "  whosoever  believeth  in 
Him  should  not  perish,  but  have  eternal  life ; "  and  this 
clearly  implies  that  they  who  would  not  believe  must 
perish  ;  which,  indeed,  was  expressly  declared  in  that  "  he 
that  believeth  on  Him  is  not  condemned;  but  he  that  be- 
lieveth not  is  condemned  already." 2     And  the  contrast 

1  Matt.  xxv.  34.  «  John  iii.  18. 

222 


THE    WARNINGS   OF   CHRIST.  223 

which  was  thus  pointedly  stated  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Gospel,  runs  through  our  Lord's  discourses  and  parables  to 
the  close ;  and  is  there  drawn  out  in  the  form  of  results 
that  are  positive,  visible,  and  unchangeable. 

The  issue  of  life  or  death,  salvation  or  condemnation, 
was  always  present  to  the  mind  of  Jesus  in  preaching  the 
Gospel.  A  future  state  of  rewards  and  punishments  formed 
a  back-ground  of  motive  and  warning  in  every  discourse, 
and  in  some  discourses  was  brought  most  impressively  into 
the  foreground.  Self-denial,  the  renouncing  of  besetting 
sin  was  urged  for  the  reason  that  "  It  is  better  to  enter  into 
life  halt  or  maimed,  than  that  the  whole  body  should  be 
cast  into  hell."  *  Courage  in  acknowledging  Christ  was 
urged  by  this  plea :  "  Fear  not  them  which  kill  the  body, 
but  are  not  able  to  kill  the  soul ;  but  rather  fear  Him  who 
is  able  to  destroy  both  soul  and  body  in  hell."  2  Plis 
hearers  were  exhorted  to  "  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate,  for 
wide  is  the  gate,  and  broad  is  the  way,  that  leadeth  to  de- 
struction, and  many  there  be  which  go  in  thereat."  3  They 
were  exhorted  to  "  make  the  tree  good,"  the  heart  right, 
because  "  every  tree  that  bringeth  not  forth  good  fruit  is 
hewn  down  and  cast  into  the  fire."  *  They  were  warned 
that  mere  professions  could  not  save  them,  for  even  "  chil- 
dren of  the  kingdom,"  born  of  the  seed  of  Abraham — for 
not  receiving  Christ,  shall  be  "  cast  out  into  outer  dark- 
ness, where  shall  be  weeping  and  gnashing  of  teeth;"5  for 
while  in  this  world  much  that  is  evil  is  gathered  into  the 
visible  church,  "  at  the  end  of  the  world  the  angels  shall 
come  forth  and  sever  the  wicked  from  among  the  just,  and 
shall  cast  them  into  the  furnace  of  fire." 6  The  Pharisees 
and  all  hypocrites  were  warned  of  "the  damnation  of 
hell."  7  Dives  having  lived  a  sensual,  worldly  life,  on 
dying  went  to  a  place  of  misery,  and  "  was  in  torments ;  "  8 

1  Matt,  xviii.  8.  2  Matt.  x.  28,  3  Matt.  vii.  1.3.  *  Matt.  vii.  19.  5  Matt.  viii.  12 
6  Matt.  xiii.  42.  *  Matt,  xxiii.  33.  8  Luke  xvi.  23. 


224  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

"  What  then  is  a  man  profited,  if  he  shall  gain  the  whole 
world,  and  lose  his  own  soul?"1  The  foolish  virgins, 
having  no  oil  of  grace  in  their  lamps,  shall  knock  and  cry 
in  vain  at  the  door  of  heaven,  forever  shut  against  them.  2 
"  Many  will  say  to  Me  in  that  day,  Lord,  Lord,  have  we 
not  prophesied  in  Thy  name?  and  in  Thy  name  have  cast 
out  devils?  and  in  Thy  name  done  many  wonderful 
works  ?  And  then  will  I  profess  unto  them  I  never  knew 
you;  depart  from  Me,  ye  that  work  iniquity/'5  "All 
that  are  in  the  graves  shall  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son  of 
Man,  and  shall  come  forth; — they  that  have  done  good, 
unto  the  resurrection  of  life,  and  they  that  have  done  evil, 
unto  the  resurrection  of  damnation."  *  "  These  shall  go 
away  into  everlasting  punishment,  but  the  righteous  into 
life  eternal/' 5  "  For  the  Son  of  Man  shall  come  in  the 
glory  of  His  Father,  with  His  angels  ;  and  then  He  shall 
reward  every  man  according  to  his  works."  6 

All  these  are  the  very  words  of  Christ.  The  doctrine  of 
a  coming  judgment,  at  which  a  direct  recompense  from 
God  shall  be  rendered  to  men  individually  according  to 
character,  is  not  an  invention  of  a  malignant  theology.  It 
was  the  constant  teaching  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  distin- 
guishes Christianity  as  a  moral  system,  with  positive 
awards,  from  systems  that  refer  all  evils  to  purely  natural 
causes. 

That  penal  consequences  follow  upon  the  transgression 
of  physical  laws,  and  that  these  are  intended  to  have  a 
moral  effect  in  restraining  transgression,  is  written  in  the 
whole  constitution  of  Nature  and  of  Man.  Some  main- 
tain, however,  that  the  penalties  of  transgression  are  lim- 
ited to  the  operation  of  natural  laws ;  that  these  may  be 
retrieved  at  any  time  in  the  future  by  a  change  of  conduct 
on  the  part  of  the  sufferer  ;  or  will  work  themselves  out  at 

'  Matt.  xvi.  26.  *  Matt.  xxv.  1  scq.  s  Matt.  vii.  22. 

4  John  v.  28.  5  Matt.  xxv.  46.  «  Matt,  xvi.  27. 


NATURAL   SEQUENCES   OF   SIN.  225 

last  in  his  atonement  and  purification.  In  other  words, 
by  the  doctrine  of  natural  consequences,  sin  and  its  effects 
are  simply  a  question  between  man  and  the  general  system 
of  laws  within  which  he  exists.  Certain  actions  are  fol- 
lowed by  certain  effects.  Whoever  therefore,  transgresses 
the  laws  of  his  being  or  the  laws  of  the  universe  must  ex- 
pect to  take  the  consequences.  This  doctrine  of  natural 
consequences  is  true  so  far  as  it  goes;  and  this  alone  should 
suffice  to  deter  men  from  transgressing  the  laws  of  their 
being.  But  Christ  taught  that  the  punishment  of  sin  will 
embody  the  additional  element  of  a  positive  retribution 
from  His  hand  as  the  righteous  Judge  of  the  world  ; — that 
He  Himself  will  reward  every  man  according  to  His 
works;  and  that  these  awards  will  be  final  and  everlasting. 

Exception  is  taken  to  this  doctrine  of  a  direct  and  posi- 
tive retribution  as  inconsistent  with  the  wisdom  and  good- 
ness of  God,  and  with  the  plan  of  salvation  ;  it  is  styled  a 
dogma  of  a  hard  and  arbitrary  theology.  But  since  this 
feature  is  made  so  prominent  in  the  Gospel,  since  it  is  a 
doctrine  most  emphatically  pronounced  by  Jesus  Christ 
Himself,  it  cannot  be  set  aside  except  by  setting  aside  the 
whole  of  Christianity ;  it  is  linked  with  the  doctrine  of 
Jesus  from  first  to  last ;  and  it  must  be  in  harmony  with 
the  divine  justice  and  love  that  beam  from  every  page  of 
His  Gospel. 

Our  Lord's  doctrine  of  retribution  differs  from  the  doc- 
trine of  natural  sequences  in  two  material  points.  First,  in 
place  of  a  natural  law  of  cause  and  effect,  it  sets  before  us 
a  personal  judge  whose  word  declares  the  penalty ;  and 
secondly  it  makes  that  penalty  a  positive  infliction  upon 
moral  grounds,  because  of  character  and  not  the  mere  issue 
of  a  natural  law.  We  have  already  in  part  discussed  this 
distinction, x  but  it  is  so  striking  and  momentous  that  it 

1  See  Chap.  xv. 
15 


22S  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

deserves  a  further  consideration.  It  marks  the  difference 
between  a  machine-world  in  which  things  move  on  by 
mere  natural  routine,  and  a  moral  government  in  which 
the  Creator  and  Head  of  the  universe  maintains  His  au- 
thority over  intelligent  creatures  by  moral  laws  with  their 
proper  sanctions. 

Recalling  for  a  moment  the  scene  of  the  final  judgment, 
as  portrayed  by  Christ,  we  there  behold  Himself  sitting 
upon  the  throne  of  His  glory,  and  all  nations  gathered 
before  Him;  He  separates  mankind  into  two  classes  by 
the  test  of  character,  and  He  Himself  pronounces  the  final 
award ;  He  addresses  the  one  class  as  "  Blessed  of  His 
Father,"  and  welcomes  them  to  "  the  kingdom "  reserved 
for  them ;  this  He  does  as  King  and  Judge,  with  an 
authority  whose  effect  is  immediate  and  final ;  then  this 
same  judicial  authoritative  voice  says  to  those  upon  the  left 
hand,  "  Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,  into  everlasting  fire." 
And  the  result  of  this  solemn  proceeding  is  summed  up  in 
the  words — "  These  shall  go  away  into  everlasting  punish- 
ment, but  the  righteous  into  life  eternal." *  Now  it  may 
be  said  this  scene  is  pictorial,  and  that  much  of  the  language 
is  the  drapery  of  a  poetic  description.  Grant  this,  but  of 
what  is  it  a  picture  ?  and  what  instruction  is  it  designed  to 
convey  ?  Does  it  picture  the  mere  working  of  natural  laws, 
by  which  at  death  men  one  by  one  drop  into  their  respective 
places  in  a  future  state  of  existence?  Can  this  vivid  and 
impressive  picture  be  reduced  to  a  mere  parable  of  natural 
distinctions  and  natural  sequences?  How  then  shall  we 
dispose  of  the  central  figure — the  living  personal  Christ  ? 
How  dwindle  down  the  collective  multitudes,  divided  by 
character,  into  a  mere  succession  of  individuals  passing  off 
the  stage  each  in  his  own  time  and  way  ?  This  is  a  picture 
indeed,  but  a  picture  whose  corresponding  reality  is  a  formal, 
definitive  judgment,  Avhich  the  Saviour  in  person  will  pro- 

1  Mat.  xxv.  46. 


NATURAL    LAWS    HAVE    PENALTIES.  227 

nounce  upon  men  according  to  their  deeds.1 — This  certainly 
is  the  doctrine  of  Christ  concerning  the  future  retribution ; 
and  if  we  compare  this  in  detail  with  the  doctrine  that  all 
punishment  is  the  result  of  natural  causes,  we  shall  find  it 
more  than  that  in  accordance  with  the  reason  of  things. 

(a).  Both  views  agree  as  to  the  fact  of  penalty.  Strictly 
speaking  there  is  no  sect  in  religion  nor  school  of  philosophy 
that  absolutely  denies  that  sin  incurs  penalty.  Those  who 
hold  that  there  is  no  retribution  after  death — if  there  are 
any  such — argue  that  sin  receives  its  whole  punishment 
through  the  evils  of  the  present  life,  or  that  Christ  has 
cancelled  these  indiscriminately  for  all;  and  those  who  hold 
to  the  final  restoration  of  the  wicked  to  holiness  and  heaven, 
admit  that  there  will  be  a  future  retribution,  but  argue 
that  this  will  at  length  satisfy  itself,  or  will  work  the  refor- 
mation of  the  offender.  In  either  case  then  it  is  admitted 
that  law  has  a  penalty  for  transgression ;  and  the  difference 
between  all  these  schemes  of  natural  sequence  and  Christ's 
doctrine  of  retribution  lies  in  the  form  of  the  penalty  and 
the  manner  of  inflicting  it. 

The  fact  that  penalty  is  affixed  to  the  laws  of  nature  is 
too  obvious  to  require  proof.  He  who  violates  the  laws  of 
health,  in  respect  of  air,  of  food,  of  sleep,  of  exposure,  of 
labor,  must  take  the  consequences  in  suffering,  in  debility, 
in  premature  death.  He  who  disregards  the  known  proper- 
ties and  effects  of  the  substances  and  elements  of  nature, 
who  puts  his  hand  into  melted  lead  or  takes  strychnine 
into  his  stomach,  must  suffer  in  consequence.  Every  child 
knows  that  a  world  of  laws  must  be  also  a  world  of  penal- 
ties.    In  the  fact  of  penalty,  therefore,  all  theories  agree. 

(b).  It  is  agreed  also,  upon  both  theories — the  natural 
and  the  Christian — that  penalty  for  the  violation  of  law  is 
just; — that  is  just  m  the  principle  of  it,  for  we  are  not  here 
speaking  of  manner  or  degree.     Those  who  accept  Christ'3 

1  Bee  Chap.  X7. 


228  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

teaching  of  course  believe  this,  for  they  believe  in  the 
righteousness  of  God.  And  those  who  regard  all  suffering 
as  simply  the  consequence  of  violating  natural  law,  do  not 
accuse  nature  of  injustice  or  cruelty  because  of  the  suffer- 
ing that  follows  disobedience.  Now  the  benevolence  of 
God  might  just  as  well  be  impeached  because  of  these 
penalties  of  natural  law,  as  for  a  positive  retribu- 
tion. But  how  absurd  we  should  think  it,  if  a  man  who 
had  burnt  his  hand  by  his  own  carelessness,  should  go  up 
and  down  in  a  raging  passion  against  the  cruelty  of  nature 
in  making  fire  burn.  We  use  all  the  great  agents  of 
nature,  lire,  steam,  chemical  forces,  subject  to  the  risk  and 
the  penalty  of  violating  or  abusing  them ;  and  the  penalty 
of  disobedience  or  disregard  which  all  men  see  to  be  a 
fact,  men  also  admit  to  be  just.  "  You  should .  have 
known  better,"  "You  should  have  taken  care," — these 
and  like  phrases  impute  the  evil  not  to  the  law  but  to  the 
transgressor.  The  pain  which  is  incidental  to  the  viola- 
tion of  the  law  renders  even  physical  law  a  means  of  moral 
discipline. 

(c).  Both  theories — the  natural  and  the  Christian — agree 
that  natural  evil  may  be  fitly  made  a  penalty  for  moral 
disobedience.  When  the  mother  warns  her  child  not  to  go 
near  the  fire,  and  lays  her  strict  commands  upon  him,  if 
he  goes  and  burns  himself,  she  teaches  him  that  his  suffer- 
ing comes  not  only  from  disregarding  the  properties  of  fire, 
but  from  disobeying  her  command.  A  drunkard  violates 
not  only  the  laws  of  his  physical  constitution,  but  the  laws 
of  reason  and  of  conscience,  the  laws  of  good  society,  the 
moral  law  of  God ;  and  though  the  penalty  comes  chiefly 
in  the  form  of  physical  suffering  and  degradation,  we  yet 
attach  this  to  moral  as  well  as  to  physical  law. 

Human  laws  annex  physical  penalties  to  moral  offences. 
Theft,  though  committed  upon  inanimate  things  is  a 
breach  of  morality ;  murder,  though  committed  upon  the 


SUPERIORITY    OF    MORAL    LAW.  220 

physical  body,  is  a  crime  of  deepest  moral  die.  The  law 
punishes  these  crimes  with  physical  pains  and  privations 
that  have  no  connection  with  the  physical  objects  violated. 
Hence  it  is  absurd  to  say  that  all  penalty  comes  merely  in 
the  way  of  natural  sequence  from  natural  laws ;  it  attaches 
itself  also  to  the  great  principles  of  moral  law. 

Thus  far,  then,  the  theory  that  penalty  comes  in  due 
course  of  nature,  and  the  doctrine  of  Christ  that  it  is  in- 
flicted by  God  as  a  righteous  governor  for  the  infraction 
of  His  laws  agree  in  these  successive  steps : — (d).  that 
there  is  penalty,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  in  the  system  under 
which  we  live,  whether  we  call  this  nature  or  providence ; 
(e).  that  as  a  principle,  the  infliction  of  penalty  for  trans- 
gression is  wise  and  just;  (/).  and  that  penalty,  though 
coming  in  the  form  of  natural  evil,  often  stands  visibly 
connected  with  the  infraction  of  moral  law.  But  from  this 
point  the  doctrine  of  Christ  goes  farther,  and  teaches 
that  penalty  shall  be  pronounced  directly  from  Himself 
as  Judge,  aside  from  or  in  addition  to  the  natural  course 
of  things,  and  as  the  fit  and  just  conclusion  of  this  very 
dispensation  of  grace.  The  rule  or  principle  here  laid 
down  for  the  infliction  of  penalty  is  the  rule  of  absolute 
justice.  Each  man  shall  be  judged  according  to  what  he 
has  or  has  not  done ;  and  "  that  servant  which  knew  his 
Lord's  will,  and  prepared  not  himself,  neither  did  accor- 
ding to  His  will,  shall  be  beaten  with  many  stripes."  l 

Man's  relations  to  the  moral  law,  and  to  all  law  in  his 
character  as  a  moral  being  are  far  superior  to  his  relations 
to  physical  law.  The  soul  no  less  than  the  body  has  its 
own  laws.  In  his  own  free  actions,  his  moral  conduct,  man 
is  bound  to  do  right  by  an  obligation  as  strong  surely  as 
that  which  binds  him  to  observe  the  laws  of  nature  in  the 
rare  of  his  body ;  and  as  a  moral  being  he  must  be  amen- 
able  to   moral   law.     This   law  has   certain  penalties  that 

i  Luke  xii.  47. 


230  THE   THEOLOGY   OE    CHRIST. 

come  as  matter  of  course,  as  certainly  as  the  sequences  of 
physical  laws — such  as  remorse  of  conscience ;  the  loss  of 
self-respect ;  a  sense  of  unhappiness ;  the  apprehension  of 
evil.  The  principle  of  penalty  for  disobedience  here  dis- 
tinctly applies. 

In  threatening  to  inflict  a  direct  positive  penalty  for 
sin,  in  distinction  from  its  natural  sequences,  Christ  an- 
nounced beforehand  a  rule  of  perfect  justice.  It  is  that  Pie 
will  try  men  solely  by  their  own  actions,  and  will  recom- 
pense them  according  to  the  tenor  of  their  spirit  and  con- 
duct. This  is  a  rule  of  perfect  equity.  If  any  have 
obeyed  the  law,  they  could  desire  no  more  favorable  rule 
than  to  be  rewarded  according  to  their  deeds.  And  for 
such  as  have  broken  the  law  there  could  be  no  rule  more 
just  and  equal  than  that  they  shall  be  dealt  with  exactly 
according  to  their  conduct ;  that  they  should  receive  sim- 
ply that  which  is  their  due.  The  Judge  of  infinite  right- 
eousness, of  perfect  knowledge,  goodness,  and  truth,  will 
do  right  in  dealing  with  men  according  to  their  deeds. 
And  if,  moreover,  they  have  had  opportunity  given  them 
to  escape  penalty  by  repentance,  and  have  refused  this,  it 
will  be  perfect  justice  to  deal  with  them  upon  their  own 
ground. 

Hence  the  rule  of  personal  reckoning  here  laid  down  is 
proper  and  equitable.  Men  are  not  to  be  judged  collec- 
tively or  in  classes,  by  some  general  sweeping  act,  but 
each  and  every  man  according  to  that  which  he  hath  done. 
The  formative  influences  of  society  upon  personal  char- 
acter, the  circumstances  in  which  a  life  was  molded,  the 
relative  degrees  of  darkness  and  light  in  each  individual 
case,  the  temptations  to  sin,  the  allurements  to  virtue,  all 
that  affected  the  man  in  the  course  of  his  earthly  conduct, 
will  enter  into  the  judgment  upon  that  conduct ;  and  in 
the  light  of  all  these  conditions  and  circumstances,  each  in- 
dividual case  will  be  made  up  for  its  own  issue.     This  is 


THE    GPvAXDEUrt    OF    VIRTUE.  231 

the  fairest  rule  of  judgment  that  can  be  imagined.  What 
could  any  man  ask  for  himself,  or  what  could  he  conceive 
of  as  a  principle  of  judgment,  more  scrupulously  just  than 
this — that  each  and  every  man  be  judged  according  to  his 
personal  conduct  ? 

We  now  come  to  the  gist  of  Christ's  doctrine  of  punish- 
ment. The  fact  of  penalty  and  its  justice  being  recognized, 
it  being  also  established  that  natural  evil  may  proper- 
ly be  used  as  a  penalty  for  moral  transgression  ;  and  the 
rule  of  judgment  by  personal  conduct  being  absolutely 
just,  it  remains  only  to  consider  the  reasons  for  a  positive 
judgment  and  retribution  in  distinction  from  the  natural 
consequences  of  violated  law.  Such  a  judgment  is  due  to 
the  transcendent  worth  and  dignity  of  moral  interests  in 
the  universe,  and  to  the  claims  of  public  justice  and  right 
in  a  moral  government.  Man's  highest  dignity  and  worth 
is  in  the  sphere  of  morality.  Here  it  is,  as  a  being  capa- 
ble of  moral  choice,  of  knowing  truth  and  obeying  virtue, 
capable  of  principles  of  action  as  lofty  as  the  mind  of  God 
and  enduring  as  His  throne,  in  a  word  capable  of  holiness 
and  its  immeasurable  blessedness,  it  is  in  this  that  man  is 
allied  to  angels  and  to  God.  Build  one  broad  and  stable 
pyramid  of  physical  laws ;  if  it  were  possible  heap  into  one 
stupendous  mass  all  the  matter  now  shaped  and  distributed 
into  ten  thousand  worlds ;  above  this  place  again  the  no- 
blest powers  and  attainments  of  intellectual  life — indeed, 
if  this  were  possible,  the  accumulated  powers  and  products 
of  mind  in  its  highest  spheres  ;  still  above  these  must  we 
place  in  sublime  pre-eminence  a  pure  and  perfect  moral 
character,  as  the  crown  of  all  excellence,  the  height  of  all 
dignity,  the  seat  of  all  true  poAver  and  grandeur,  the  nearest 
approach  to  the  divine.  "  Man  partakes  of  all  that  is  be- 
low him,  and  becomes  man  by  the  addition  of  something 
higher:  this  is,  the  rational  and  moral  life  by  which  man 
is  made  in  the  image  of  God.     For  in  man,  as  thus  con- 


232  THE   THEOLOGY    OF    CHRIST. 

stifcuted,  we  first  find  a  being  who  is  capable  of  choosing 
his  own  end;  or  rather,  of  choosing  or  rejecting  the  end 
indicated  by  his  whole  nature.  Up  to  man  every  thing  is 
driven  to  its  end  by  a  force  working  from  without,  or  from 
behind ;  but  for  him  the  pillar  of  cloud  and  of  fire  puts 
itself  in  front,  and  he  follows  it  or  not,  as  he  chooses."  x 

And  now  for  a  being  with  these  majestic  endowments, 
with  these  sublime  possibilities,  has  the  Creator  no  recog- 
nition, no  rule,  no  administration  higher  than  the  laws  of 
the  physical  creation  ?  Has  this  rational  image  of  God, 
laws  of  digestion,  and  laws  of  locomotion,  but  no  laws  of 
moral  action  ?  Shall  a  stone  give  him  pain  if  he  strike 
his  foot  against  it,  shall  his  body  suffer  for  any  infraction 
of  mere  physical  law,  and  shall  there  be  for  his  soul,  with 
its  voluntary  powers,  no  moral  government  of  the  Creator 
having  sanctions  commensurate  with  the  interests  of  a 
moral  universe?  Is  this  soul,  by  which  alone  man  is 
man,  governed  down  at  the  low  level  of  the  animal  nature 
with  which  it  is  associated — subject  to  law  and  amenable 
to  penalty  only  so  far  as  it  comes  into  contact  with  the 
physical  creation  ?  Has  the  wise  and  good  God  committed 
such  a  solecism  in  government,  that  He  has  made,  every- 
thing subject  to  law  except  that  which  alone  is  great 
enough  to  comprehend  law  and  intelligently  obey  it  ? — that 
the  lowest  animal,  the  meanest  plant,  the  very  stones 
beneath  our  feet  have  laws  corresponding  with  their 
nature,  but  the  soul  of  man  has  no  government  approj)riate 
to  itself?  Is  it  credible  that  there  is  no  moral  government 
over  the  universe  of  intelligent  beings  ?  Nothing  but  a 
machinery  of  physical  law?  Is  it  credible  that  God  has 
not  made  known  to  man  the  law  that  should  govern  his 
higher  nature,  or  that  He  will  not  show  His  regard  for 
that  law  by  sanctions  conformed  to  its  worth  and  proceed- 
Surely  as  God  is  g 

Rev.  Mark  Hopldn?,  D.  D. 


JUSTICE    THE   STRENGTH    OF    SOCIETY.  233 

great  in  His  image,  as  a  universe  of  moral  beings  is  great 
above  all  the  greatness  of  God's  other  works,  there  is 
a  government  based  upon  the  grandeur  of  virtue,  there  is 
a  law  embodying  holiness  as  the  rale  of  man,  and  there 
arc  penalties  answering  to  the  greatness  of  these  parties 
and  the  grandeur  of  these  interests. 

Moreover,  the  claims  of  public  justice  and  security  in  a 
moral  government  demand  that  there  be  a  positive  retribu- 
tion upon  sin  from  the  Ruler  Himself.  Society  recognizes 
this  principle  in  all  criminal  law.  Doubtless  the  criminal 
suffers  certain  natural  consequences  of  his  crime,  in  remorse 
of  conscience,  in  terrors  of  imagination,  in  the  conscious- 
ness of  social  ignominy.  But  he  stands  not  alone  ;  he  is 
related  to  society  as  a  whole ;  and  justice  is  the  strength  of 
the  social  organism.  The  criminal  owes  therefore  a  debt 
to  public  justice  as  well  as  to  natural  law.  If  a  man 
poisons  his  wife  that  he  may  be  free  to  live  a  life  of  shame, 
is  that  a  private  affair  of  his  own  household?  Society 
takes  notice  of  it  as  a  crime  against  itself,  and  law  has  a 
penalty.  We  measure  the  moral  tone  of  society  by  the 
sure  and  impartial  justice  it  metes  out  to  such  a  crime.  If 
to  evade  legal  penalty  the  criminal  poisons  himself,  should 
this  be  accepted  as  making  the  account  square  with  justice  ? 
Is  the  moral  law  satisfied  by  another  crime  ?  Would  the 
social  law  of  the  universe  be  satisfied  by  the  transportation 
of  the  criminal  to  heaven  ?  When  we  read  that  "  the  Son 
of  Man  shall  send  forth  His  angels,  and  they  shall  gather 
out  of  His  kingdom  all  things  that  offend,  and  them  which 
do  iniquity,"  l  we  feel  that  the  mercy  that  offers  salvation 
to  all  who  in  faith  and  holy  love  will  seek  the  kingdom  of 
God  is  enhanced  by  that  righteousness  which  shall  here- 
after separate  the  evil  from  the  good. 

But  it  is  objected  that  the  doctrine  of  eternal  punish- 
ment cannot  be  reconciled  with  the  goodness  of  God.  We, 
however,  are  not  here  in  a  position  to  judge  of  the  relation 

i  Mitt.  xiii.  41. 


234  THE    THEOLOGY    OP    CHRIST. 

of  sin  to  the  whole  moral  universe,  nor  of  what  the  equi- 
librium of  mercy  and  justice — which  is  essential  to  the  re- 
storation of  a  moral  system  once  disordered  by  sin — may 
require  alike  of  the  wisdom,  the  goodness,  and  the  right- 
eousness of  God.  And  the  only  question  now  before  us  is, 
what  did  Christ  teach?  If  He  distinctly  taught  the 
eternal  punishment  of  the  wicked,  then  if  upon  specula- 
tive grounds  we  reject  that  doctrine,  we  cannot  with 
propriety  claim  to  be  His  disciples. 

Much  that  Christ  said  concerning  future  punishment 
was  in  the  form  either  of  metaphor  or  of  parable  ;  and  it 
has  been  aptly  said,  "  If  we  are  to  turn  rhetoric  into  logic, 
and  build  a  dogma  on  every  metaphor,  our  belief  will  be 
of  a  vague  and  contradictory  character."  But  the  meta- 
phors and  parables  of  Christ  were  intended  to  convey  some 
substantial  truth — the  metaphor  represented  a  correspond- 
ing reality,  the  figure  had  a  basis  of  fact.  Taken  literally, 
His  metaphors  would  neutralize  one  another  ; — "  the  outer 
darkness,"  and  "the  everlasting  fire;"  "the  fire  that 
never  shall  be  quenched,"  would  seem  to  mark  the  utter 
destruction  of  sentient  being ;  while  the  "  torments "  of 
Dives,  and  the  "  worm  that  dieth  not,"  suggest  the  con- 
sciousness of  suffering.  But  shall  we,  therefore,  infer  that 
"  hell "  is  altogether  a  figure  of  speech,  and  that  these 
vivid  pictures  have  no  corresponding  reality  ?  The  laws 
of  language  require  us  to  understand  from  these  very 
metaphors,  that  the  future  state  of  the  ungodly  will  be  one 
of  conscious  and  irremediable  misery — the  "  darkness  "  of 
banishment  from  God,  the  "  unquenchable  fires  "  of  mem- 
ory, the  "  undying  worm  "  of  remorse — a  state  of  mental 
anguish  pre-figured  by  physical  emblems,  which  neither 
the  imagination  of  Dante  nor  of  Milton  could  fully  inter- 
pret, neither  the  pencil  of  Tintoretto,  of  Michael  Angelo,  nor 
of  Dor<5  could  worthily  represent.  The  emblems  of  future 
punishment  used  by  Christ  were   not  like   the  material 


MEANING   OF    PUNISHMENT.  235 

images  that  painters  and  poets  have  addressed  to  the  eye 
and  the  imagination,  but  were  designed  to  suggest  realities 
in  spiritual  experience  too  awful  for  fancy  to  dwell  upon. 
These  address  themselves  to  the  soberest  judgment,  and 
with  a  higher  solemnity  as  proceeding  from  the  lips  of  the 
compassionate  Son  of  God. 

Moreover,  Christ  did  not  always  speak  of  future  punish- 
ment in  words  of  metaphor.  He  used  no  figure  of 
speech,  no  terms  of  rhetoric,  when  in  closing  His  descrip- 
tion of  the  last  judgment,  He  said  with  the  simple  direct- 
ness of  a  judicial  sentence — "These  shall  go  away  into 
everlasting  punishment ;  but  the  righteous  into  life  eter- 
nal:" x — Ei<;  xolaacv  alcoviov  on  the  one  hand,  d<;  ^corjv 
aicovcov  on  the  other.  The  term  xoXntri^  means  strictly  not 
destruction,  annihilation,  but  chastisement  or  punishment ; 
thus  the  Sanhedrim  threatened  Peter  and  John,  and  let 
them  go,  "finding  nothing  how  they  might  punish  them,"2 
xoMacvuzac :  it  sometimes  denotes  the  apprehension  of  pain 
and  suffering  ; — thus  "  fear  hath  torment" 3  xblaolv.  The 
Septuagint  uses  this  word  to  describe  a  variety  of  punish- 
ments inflicted  upon  the  wicked,  both  individually,  and  as 
communities  or  nations.  Thus,  to  the  house  of  Israel  it 
was  said  "  Repent ;  so  iniquity  shall  not  be  your  ruin  " — 
xbXaatv  : 4  and  again,  to  be  "  tormented  by  beasts  "  was  a 
x6Xaa>~.5  Plato  in  his  Gorgias  uses  the  word  in  its  primi- 
tive sense  of  pruning  or  restraining  ;  thus — "  Is  not  to 
restrain  one  from  what  he  desires  to  punish  him  ?" 
xoXd'etv,  and  "  to  punish  the  soul  {xoAa^oda:)  is  therefore 
better  than  unrestrained  indulgence."  6  Again,  he  says, 
"  no  one  punishes  (xoXd^aS)  the  unjust  because  he  has  been 
unjust,  but  for  the  sake  of  the  future,  that  he  may  not 
again  do  unjustly."  7  It  is  plain  from  both  Biblical  and 
Classical  usage  that  xoXaacz  has  no  affinity  with  annihila- 

1  Matt    xxv.  46.  2  Acts  iv.  21.         3  1  John  iv.  18.       «  Ezck.  xviii.  30. 

5  Wisdom  xvi.  2.     «  Gorgias  505  B.,  and  C.     7  Protagoras,  321,  B. 


236  THE   THEOLOGY   OF    CHRIST. 

tion,  but  denotes  a  punishment  the  subject  of  which  con- 
tinues conscious  under  its  infliction. 

Will  then  the  punishment  inflicted  upon  the  ungodly  at 
the  last  judgment  be  of  a  disciplinary  nature,  having  in 
view  their  reformation  and  their  final  restoration  to  the 
estate  of  the  good?  This  view  is  precluded  by  the  term 
acdivcov — the  punishment  will  be  "eternal."  This  word, 
indeed,  is  sometimes  used  vaguely  for  "  duration,"  whether 
indefinite  or  limited  ;  an  iEon  however  protracted  may 
still  have  a  definite  end.  But  the  Greek  language  has  no 
other  word  that  so  fully  and  properly  -expresses  that  which 
is  unlimited  as  to  duration ;  it  is  used  by  Plato  for  the 
ceaseless  course  of  things  as  contrasted  with  the  limitations 
of  time ;  and  in  the  New  Testament  auovio^  is  the  word 
that  expresses  the  eternity  of  God's  being  and  the  everlast- 
ing felicity  of  the  righteous.  And  in  the  words  now  under 
consideration,  the  two  states  of  "  life  "  and  "  punishment " 
are  made  to  run  parallel  in  an  endless  duration;  "these 
shall  go  away  into  punishment  ahovcov,  but  the  righteous 
into  life  auov.ov.  It  is  impossible  here  to  limit  in  the  one 
case  that  whi^h  is  unlimited  in  the  other.  If  we  believe 
that  the  life  promised  by  Christ  to  the  righteous  shall  last 
forever,  then  are  we  shut  up  to  the  literal  meaning  of  His 
alternative  words;  and  when  we  consider  what  it  must  be 
to  go  away  from  Christ,  to  go  away  from  His  love,  His 
glory,  His  blessed  presence;  to  go  away  under  His  con- 
demnation ;  all  His  dread  imagery  of  wo — the  "  fire,"  the 
"  darkness,"  the  "  tormenting  flame,"  the  "  undying  worm" 
— is  justified  by  this  final  sentence,  "  These  shall  go  away 
into  everlasting  punishment." * 

1  See  the  Author's  Love  and  Penalty  ;  also  Appendix  iii. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Christ's  doctrine  our  spiritual  sacrament. 

Many  a  reader  of  the  last  chapter  may  be  ready  to  say 
"  this  is  an  hard  saying,  who  can  hear  it."  But  Jesus  ut- 
tered many  sayings  that  seemed  hard  to  minds  but  little 
exercised  in  spiritual  things;  and  of  just  such  hard  un- 
bearable words  He  said,  "  They  are  spirit  and  they  are 
life."  l 

All  the  teachings  of  Christ  were  spiritual  in  their  in- 
tent, and  as  such  were  a  life-power  to  the  soul.  Never 
touching  upon  philosophy,  physics,  or  political  econ- 
omy, He  addressed  Himself  throughout  to  the  spiritual 
nature  of  man,  with  a  view  to  reviving,  ennobling,  sancti- 
fying this,  and  hence  His  words  were  not  merely  instruc- 
tion, counsel,  knowledge,  doctrine,  but  Life.  Christ  was 
the  most  spiritual  of  teachers,  and  His  doctrine  both  has 
vitality  in    itself  and  gives  life  to  them  that  receive  it. 

The  same  is  true  of  the  Sacrament  that  He  instituted  to 
perpetuate  Himself  in  the  memory  of  His  disciples  ;  this  is 
the  embodiment  of  a  Truth  that  is  Life  in  proportion  as  it 
is  spiritually  received — "  The  words  that  I  speak  unto  you 
are  spirit  and  are  life."  This  was  said  of  the  words  He 
had  just  spoken  concerning  eating  His  flesh  and  drinking 
His  blood,  as  the  means  of  dwelling  in  Him,  and  of  ob- 
taining spiritual  and  eternal  life.  He  had  described  Him- 
self as  the  "  bread  of  God," 2  the  "  bread  of  life,"  3  the 
"true  bread  from  heaven,"4  "the  living  bread  which  came 
down  from  heaven ;" 5  and  had  said,  "  If  any  man  eat  of 

iJohnvi.  63.     2  John  vi.  33.     s  v.  35.     4  v.  32.     «  v.  51. 

237 


238  THE    THEOLOGY    OF    CHRIST. 

this  bread,  he  shall  live  forever."  !  The  bread  He  then 
defined  more  literally  as  His  flesh,  which  He  would  give 
for  the  life  of  the  world. 

These  sayings  caused  much  perplexity  to  the  Jews,  who 
at  length  broke  out  into  a  strife  about  His  doctrine  as  un- 
natural and  absurd,  saying  "  How  can  this  man  give  us 
His  flesh  to  eat  ?"  2  But  instead  of  toning  down  or  ex- 
plaining away  His  words,  Jesus  made  them  even  more 
literally  sensuous  than  before :  saying  "  Except  ye  eat  the 
flesh  of  the  Son  of  man,  and  drink  His  blood,  ye  have  no 
life  in  you ;  whoso  eateth  My  flesh,  and  drinketh  My 
blood,  hath  eternal  life ;  and  I  will  raise  him  up  at  the  last 
day.  For  My  flesh  is  meat  indeed,  and  My  blood  is  drink 
indeed.  He  that  eateth  My  flesh  and  drinketh  My  blood, 
dwelleth  in  Me  and  I  in  him  :"  3  and  then  as  if  to  chal- 
lenge their  captious  criticism  to  the  utmost,  He  put  the 
doctrine  in  this  bald  statement,  "  He  that  eateth  Me,  even 
He  shall  live  by  Me."  4 

Even  His  disciples  were  troubled  by  such  words  ;  and 
"  many  said,  this  is  a  hard  saying,  Who  can  hear  it  ?"  5 
Jesus  perceiving  their  murmurings,  said,  "  Doth  this  of- 
fend you  ?  What  and  if  ye  shall  see  the  Son  of  Man  as- 
cend up  where  He  was  before  ?"  6  The  resurrection  and 
ascension  of  Christ  would  confirm  His  statement  that  He 
came  down  from  heaven,  and  would  show  also  that  He 
had  within  Himself  the  power  of  life ;  the  witnesses  of 
those  events  would  understand  the  spiritual  meaning  of 
His  words  and  the  spiritual  value  of  his  death.  And 
hence  there  was  a  life-power  in  the  words  He  had  just 
spoken,  when  they  were  spiritually  apprehended. 

It  will  be  easier  to  understand  His  use  of  this  bald,  almost 
sensuous  literalism  about  eating  His  flesh  and  drinking  His 
blood,  if  we  bear  in  mind  how  extensively  the  language  of 
spiritual    ideas  is  based    upon   sensible    objects,  and   how 

i  John  vi.  51.  2vi.  52.        svi.  53,  57.        *vl.  57.  5vi.  60.        6vi.  62. 


THE   SPIKITUAL    TAUGHT    BY    THE    PHYSICAL.       239 

naturally  the  mind  when  seeking  a  strong  expression  for 
a  spiritual  truth,  in  order  to  present  it  more  vividly  and 
effectively,  seizes  upon  something  in  nature  as  its  symbol, 
and  teaches  the  inward  by  the  outward.  "  Words  are  signs 
of  natural  facts.  The  outer  creation  gives  us  language  for 
the  beings  and  changes  of  the  inward  creation.  Every 
word  which  is  used  to  express  a  moral  or  intellectual  fact, 
if  traced  to  its  root,  is  found  to  be  borrowed  from  some 
material  appearance.  Right  means  straight;  wrong  means 
twisted.  "We  say  the  heart  to  express  emotion,  the  head  to 
denote  thought.  An  enraged  man  is  a  lion,  a  cunning  man 
is  a  fox,  a  firm  man  is  a  rock,  a  learned  man  is  a  torch. 
A  lamb  is  innocence :  a  snake  is  subtile  spite.  Light  and 
darkness  are  our  familiar  expression  for  knowledge  and 
ignorance,  and  heart  for  love.  Thus  words  are  fastened  to 
visible  things  ;  and  the  moment  our  discourse  rises  above 
the  ground  line  of  familiar  facts,  and  is  inflamed  with 
passion  or  exalted  by  thought,  it  clothes  itself  in  images 
taken  from  nature."  1 

In  this  view  our  Lord's  saying,  so  far  from  being  hard 
and  mysterious  was  as  natural  as  it  was  forcible.  He  was 
dealing  with  men  who  were  carnal  in  their  feelings  and 
desires ;  who  followed  Him  for  the  excitement  of  seeing 
His  miracles  and  for  the  present  benefit  they  hoped  to 
receive  from  these.  "Ye  seek  Me,  because  ye  did  eat 
of  the  loaves  and  were  filled."  It  was  in  vain  to  talk 
to  such  men  about  the  superiority  of  spiritual  ideas  and 
aims  to  carnal  desires,  or  of  the  spiritual  design  of  His 
mission,  the  thing  must  be  put  before  them  baldly  at  their 
own  level ;  and  the  spiritual  conveyed  to  them  in  the  form 
of  bodily  figures.  And  so  Jesus  said  to  them,  You  must  eat 
the  true  bread ;  it  is  not  enough  that  you  see  what  I  do 
and  hear  what  I  say ;  you  are  to  be  saved  by  receiving 
Me ;  you  must  take  Me  as  I  am,  you  must  eat  Me. 

1  R.  \V.  Emerson,   Easai/  on  Language. 


240  THE   THEOLOGY    OF   CHEIST. 

Neander  has  given  an  interpretation  of  these  words, 
which  accords  equally  well  with  the  uses  of  metaphor  by 
Christ,  and  with  the  spiritual  philosophy  that  pervaded 
His  teaching.  "  Jesus  tells  the  Jews  that  He  would  give 
them  a  bread  which  was  to  impart  life  to  the  world ;  hence 
that  the  bread  which  He  was  about  to  give  was,  in  a  certain 
sense,  different  from  the  bread  which  He  was ;  different, 
that  is,  from  His  whole  self-communication.  And  the 
bread  which  I  will  give  is  my  flesh.  This  bread  was  to  be 
the  self-sacrifice  of  His  bodily  life  for  the  salvation  of  man- 
kind. The  life-giving  power,  as  such,  was  His  Divine- 
human  existence ;  the  life-giving  power,  in  its  special  aet, 
was  His  self-sacrifice.  The  two  are  inseparable  ;  the  lat- 
ter being  the  essential  means  of  realizing  the  former ;  only 
by  His  self-sacrifice  could  His  Divine-human  life  become 
the  bread  of  life  for  men. 

"  The  Jews  wilfully  perverted  these  words  of  Christ  into 
a  carnal  meaning;  and  therefore  He  repeated  and  strength- 
ened them  :  Except  ye  eat  the  flesh  of  the  S®u  of  Man : — 
'  except  ye  receive  My  Divine-human  life  within  you, 
make  it  as  your  own  flesh  and  blood,  and  become  tho- 
roughly penetrated  by  the  Divine  principle  of  life,  which 
Christ  has  imparted  to  human  nature  and  Himself  realized 
in  it,  ye  cannot  partake  of  eternal  life.' 

"  When  He  had  left  the  synagogue,  and  was  standing 
among  persons  who,  up  to  that  time,  had  been  His  constant 
attendants,  He  said,  '  I  have  spoken  to  you  of  eating  My 
flesh ;  doth  this  offend  you  f  What  then  will  you  say 
when  the  Son  of  Man  will  ascend  into  heaven  ?  You  will 
then  see  Me  no  more  with  your  bodily  eyes ;  but  yet  it 
will  be  necessary  for  you  to  eat  my  flesh  and  drink  my 
blood,  which  then,  in  a  carnal  sense,  will  be  plainly  impos- 
sible.' It  is  obvious,  therefore,  that  Christ  meant  no 
material  participation  in   His   flesh   and    blood,  but   one 


TRAXSUBSTANTIATION.  241 

which  would  have  its  fullest  import  and  extent  at  the  time 
specified. 

"  He  then  naturally  passes  on  to  explain  the  spiritual 
import  of  His  life-streaming  words.  It  is  the  spirit  that 
giveth  life  ;  the  flesh  is  nothing ;  hence  I  could  not  have 
meant  a  sensible  eating  of  My  flesh  and  blood,  but  the  ap- 
propriation of  My  spirit,  as  the  life-giving  principle,  as 
this  communicates  itself  through  My  manifestation  in  flesh 
and  blood.  As  My  words  are  only  the  medium  through 
which  the  Spirit  of  life  that  gushes  forth  from  Me  is  im- 
parted, they  can  be  rightly  understood  only  so  far  as  the 
Spirit  is  perceived  in  them."  l  Such  is  the  true  signifi- 
cance of  eating  the  flesh  of  Christ,  and  drinking  His 
blood. 

These  words  do  not  countenance  that  literal  sensuous 
view  of  the  Sacrament  which  is  given  in  the  notion  of  the 
real  presence  or  transubstantiation  taught  by  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church.  That  doctrine  is  that  "  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  true  God  and  man,  is  truly,  really,  and  substan- 
tially contained  in  the  sacrament  of  the  holy  eucharist 
after  the  consecration  of  the  bread  and  wine,  and  under  the 
form  of  these  sensible  objects."  By  the  priestly  act  of  con- 
secration, or  by  some  miraculous  influence  which  attends 
that  act,  it  is  claimed  that  "  the  Avhole  substance  of  the 
bread  is  converted  into  the  substance  of  the  body  of  Christ 
our  Lord,  and  the  whole  substance  of  the  wine  into  the 
substance  of  His  blood."  2 

1  Life  of  Jeaun  Christ,   by  Augustus  Neander,  Am.  Ed.  pp.  267-209. 

8  The  Council  of  Trent,  in  the  Decree  of  Session  xiii.  Be  snnctisnimo  Enchar- 
istioe  Sacramento,  has  declared  it  to  be  the  binding  faith  of  the  Church,  "that 
immediately  after  the  consecration,  the  true  body  of  our  Lord,  and  His  true- 
blood,  together  with  His  soul  and  divinity,  do  exist  under  the  species  of  bread 
and  wine;  His  body  under  the  species  of  bread,  and  His  blood  under  the 
species  of  wine,  by  virtue  of  the  words  of  consecration;  His  body  also  under 
the  species  of  wine,  and  His  blood  under  the  species  of  bread,  and  His  soul 
under  each  species,  (through  that  natural  connection  and  concomitance  by 
which  all  the  parts  of  Christ  our  Lord,  \'.  h"  has  risen  from  the  dead,  no 
16 


242  THE  THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

This  notion  is  based  upon  a  literal  interpretation  of 
such  sayings  as  these :  "  This  is  My  body,  which  is  broken 
for  you ;"  "  This  cup  is  the  New  Testament  in  My  blood ;" 
and  again,  "  My  flesh  is  meat  indeed,  and  My  blood  is 
drink  indeed."  But  such  an  interpretation  supposes  phy- 
sical impossibilities  and  absurdities  which  would  make 
nonsense  of  the  words  of  Christ ;  such  as  that,  He  while 
sitting  before  them  a  living  man  in  His  proper  flesh  and 
blood,  was  at  the  same  instant  present  as  to  His  body  in 
the  bread,  and  as  to  His  blood  in  the  wine ;  or  that  He 
who  is  now  absent  as  to  His  body  in  heaven  is  yet  present 
in  body  in  the  sacrament,  so  that  His  body  yet  remaining 
in  heaven  is  at  the  same  moment  created  anew  in  ten  thou- 
sand places  upon  earth,  or  wherever  the  sacrament  is  ob- 
served. It  is  idle  to  class  this  pretense  among  miracles, 
for  no  miracle  of  our  Lord  ever  involved  a  contradiction 
in  the  nature  of  things.  His  language  does  not  call  for 
any  such  interpretation.  He  said,  "  I  am  the  door."  "  I 
am  the  light  of  the  world."  "  I  am  the  true  vine ;"  and 
pre-Raphaelites  have  attempted  to  depict  Him  under  these 
various  symbols;  yet  no  one  dreams  of  taking  such  expres- 

more  to  die,  are  closely  joined  together) ; — and  even  His  divinity  is  there 
also,  through  the  wonderful  and  hypostatical  union  thereof  with  His  body 
and  soul."     Cap.  iii. 

By  this  it  is  taught  that  the  substance  of  the  bread  and  the  wine  completely 
disappear — only  the  species  or  appearance  of  either  remaining — and  that  under 
this  is  the  real  substance  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ/body  and  blood,  soul  and 
divinity.  Whoever  shall  deny  this,  or  shall  affirm  that  Christ  is  present,  "only 
in  a  sign  and  figure,  or  by  His  power  "  is  declared  accursed. 

Dr.  Moehler,  one  of  the  most  able  and  judicious  expounders  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  faith,  says,  "  Catholics  firmly  hold  that  Almighty  God  who  was 
pleased  at  Cana,  in  Galilee,  to  convert  water  into  wine,  changes  the  inward 
substance  of  the  consecrated  bread  and  wine  into  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ. 
This  belief  in  the  real  presence  of  Christ  in  the  Eucharist,  forms  the  basis  of 
our  whole  conception  of  the  mass.  Without  that  presence,  the  solemnity  of 
the  Lord's  Supper  is  a  mere  reminiscence  of  the  sacrifice  of  Christ,  exactly  in 
the  same  way  as  the  celebration  by  any  society,  of  the  anniversary  of  some 
esteemed  individual,  whose  image  it  exhibits  to  view,  or  some  other  symbol, 
recalls  to  mind  his  beneficent  actions."    Symbolizm,  $  xxxiv. 


SACRAMENTS   APPOINTED   BY   CHRIST.  243 

sions  literally.  The  Church  is  His  body ;  do  we,  then,  eat 
the  Church  in  the  sacrament? 

The  Jews  rebelled  against  Christ's  doctrine  of  His  flesh 
and  blood,  because  they  insisted  on  taking  it  literally  and 
making  it  absurd.  But  Jesus  said  of  these  very  words, 
They  are  spirit  and  life ;  you  must  look  beneath  the  form 
for  the  meaning. 

But  they  should  not  be  pressed  so  far  in  the  opposite 
direction  as  to  take  away  from  the  sacrament  its  real  basis 
and  force  as  a  symbol.  A  highly  respectable  body  of 
Christians — the  Society  of  Friends — reject  altogether  the 
outward  sacraments  of  baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper, 
and  regard  the  baptism  of  the  Spirit,  and  a  spiritual  com- 
muning with  Christ  by  meditation,  as  all  that  Jesus  in- 
tended to  be  preserved  among  His  disciples.  But  how 
shall  we  then  account  for  the  solemnity  with  which,  at  the 
last  Passover,  He  took  the  bread  and  the  cup,  and  with 
prayer  and  thanksgiving  set  these  forth  as  symbols  and 
memorials  of  His  body  and  blood,  and  said  to  His  disci- 
ples, "  This  do  in  remembrance  of  me."  l  This  surely 
meant  that  they  should  go  on  to  do  as  He  then  did ;  that 
is,  should  set  apart  bread  and  wine  as  a  memorial. 

The  disciples  acted  upon  this  from  the  day  of  the  Lord's 
death;  and  the  Apostle  Paul,  while  correcting  some 
abuses  that  had  crept  into  the  observance  of  the  Supper, 
recognizes  the  sacrament  itself  as  appointed  by  Christ  to 
be  perpetual  in  the  outward  form  of  it,  and  not  simply  a 
spiritual  communion.  He  recalls  the  formula  by  which 
our  Lord  instituted  the  Supper,  and  repeats  with  emphasis 
His  injunction,  "This  do  in  remembrance  of  Me."2  Clear- 
ly then  what  Jesus  said  concerning  the  spiritual  meaning 
of  His  words  was  not  meant  to  supersede  a  service  which 
He  established  with  so  much  solemnity  in  the  form  of  it. 
That  were  to  spiritualize  into  nonentity.     There  are  other 

1  Luke  xxii.  19.  »  1  Cor.  xi.  24. 


214  THE    THEOLOGY   OF    CHRIST. 

bodies  of  Christians,  who  while  they  keep  up  the  observ- 
ance of  the  Lord's  Supper,  make  this  simply  a  memorial 
of  the  fact  of  His  dying,  and  attach  no  sacrificial  meaning 
to  the  death.  These  understand  His  reply  to  the  Jews  as 
refining  the  whole  transaction  of  the  cross  into  an  heroic 
martyrdom  for  the  truth,  which  was  destined  to  exert  a 
spiritual  influence  upon  mankind,  but  had  nothing  of  the 
sacramental  or  redemptive  quality  which  belonged  to  the 
sacrifice  under  the  Old  Testament.  This  view  takes  the 
extreme  point  of  opposition  to  the  Roman  Catholic  doc- 
trine of  sacrifice,  as  the  view  of  the  Friends  is  at  the 
extreme  of  opposition  to  form. 

These  three  views  have  points  of  analogy  as  well  as  of 
contrast.  That  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  makes 
much  of  the  form,  because  the  purport  of  the  sacrament 
is  to  transform  the  bread  and  wine  into  the  body  and 
blood  of  Christ.  Opposed  to  this  is  the  view  which — to 
get  rid  of  so  gross  a  superstition — does  away  with  the  form 
altogether,  and  would  trust  the  remembrance  of  Christ 
entirely  to  the  heart  without  external  signs,  and  would 
seek  communion  with  Christ  solely  in  and  through  the  spirit. 

Again,  the  Roman  Catholic  view  makes  the  sacrament  a 
literal  repetition  of-  the  sacrifice  of  Jesus  upon  the  cross, 
and  therefore  holds  up  the  consecrated  wafer  for  adoration. 
Protesting  against  this  idolatry,  the  third  view  mentioned 
goes  to  the  extent  of  denying  any  sacrificial  meaning  to 
the  sacrament,  and  keeps  it  up  in  form  only  as  a  memorial, 
just  as  one  observes  a  birth-day  festival,  or  any  other  form 
of  commemoration.     It  is  a  memorial  but  not  a  symbol. 

Now  each  of  these  views  results  from  pressing  to  an  ex- 
treme particular  words  or  phrases  uttered  by  Christ,  with- 
out regard  to  other  expressions  which  have  equal  authority 
and  significance,  and  which  must  be  considered  in  making 
up  a  complete  view  of  His  doctrine  of  the  sacrament.  He 
did  say,  "  Except  ye  eat  of  the  flesh  of  the  Son  of  Man 


THE    LIFE    IX    THE    WORDS.  245 

and  drink  His  blood,  ye  have  no  life  in  you,  for  My  flesh 
is  meat  indeed,  and  My  blood  is  drink  indeed ;"  and 
directly  after,  He  said,  "  It  is  the  Spirit  that  quickeneth ; 
the  flesh  profiteth  nothing ;  the  words  that  I  speak  unto 
you,  they  are  spirit,  and  they  are  life."  These  two  sayings 
qualify  and  interpret  each  other.  The  second  does  not 
annul  the  first  by  depriving  it  of  all  meaning ;  Jesus  did 
not  intend  by  this,  You  must  take  my  words  entirely  in  a 
spiritual  sense,  and  thus  attach  no  significance  to  the  terms 
flesh  and  blood.  Why  did  He  repeat  these  words  so  often, 
and  with  such  solemnity  of  impression,  if  they  were  to  be  set 
aside  as  absolutely  of  no  account?  What  He  said  was, 
"There  is  a  spiritual  life  in  these  words  that  I  have 
spoken ;"  and  therefore  we  should  neither  take  them 
grossly  as  a  literal  eating  of  flesh  and  blood,  nor  set  them 
aside  for  some  refined  spiritual  concej^tion  which  has  no 
relation  to  such  eating  and  drinking ;  but  we  must  get  out 
of  these  very  words  the  spiritual  life  that  is  in  them ;  these 
very  words  that  speak  of  eating  His  flesh,  and  drinking 
His  blood,  are  "  spirit  and  life,"  when  one  takes  them 
rightly.  They  teach  that  the  Lord  Jesus  gave  His  flesh, 
His  life  for  the  life  of  the  world ;  His  death  was  a  sacrifice 
as  the  means  of  life  and  salvation.1  But  this  sacrifice  does 
not  take  effect  for  any  individual  from  the  mere  fact  of  its 
having  been  offered ;  it  does  not  stand  simply  as  an  event 
of  history,  to  exert  a  moral  influence  upon  mankind:  but 
it  gives  life  to  him  who  eats  and  drinks  it; — that  is,  to 
him  who  appropriates  it  to  his  own  case  as  the  provision 
upon  which  the  life  of  his  soul  depends — -just  as  the  life  of 
the  body  depends  upon  food  and  drink.  He  who  so  re- 
ceives the  death  of  Christ — makes  this  application  of  that 
death  as  the  necessary  means  of  his  soul's  life — will  find 
that  Christ  becomes  to  him  as  his  very  flesh  and  blood. 
The  death  of  Christ  was  a  literal,  physical  event:  there 

i  Sec  Chap.  V. 


246  THE  THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

is  no  doubting  that  fact,  and  the  glorious  truth  of  the  re- 
surrection depends  upon  it.  But  this  death  did  not  come 
in  the  course  of  nature,  nor  merely  as  a  consequence  of  nat- 
ural laws;  neither  was  it  simply  an  effect  of  human  vio- 
lence: for  Jesus  laid  down  his  life:  l  suffered  Himself  to 
be  put  to  death;  and  in  the  discourse  under  review  He 
said,  "The  bread  that  I  will  give  is  My  flesh,  which  I  will 
give  for  the  life  of  the  world."  This  made  His  death  a 
sacrifice.  He  gave  His  life,  and  by  that  giving  brought 
life  to  the  world.  But  the  practical  benefit  of  the  sacrifice 
can  be  had  only  by  accepting  it  as  a  sacrifice  in  our  stead; 
by  appropriating  it  with  a  full  heart  as  the  means  of  life; 
and  this  it  is  to  eat  Christ,  so  that  His  life  becomes  ours. 
Hence  the  stress  laid  upon  receiving  the  life  of  His  sacri- 
fice. "The  flesh  profiteth  nothing."  It  is  of  no  avail  to 
belong  to  the  body  of  Christ — the  church — unless  the 
soul  is  a  partaker  of  His  life.  There  are  benefits  from 
church  membership  to  one  who  is  truly  a  disciple;  but 
membership  in  the  church  gives  no  warrant  of  salvation, 
and  will  rather  be  a  hindrance  if  made,  in  any  wise,  a  sub- 
stitute for  Christ.  "He  that  eateth  Me  shall  live  by  Me." 
Hence  the  virtue  of  the  sacrament  is  found  only  in  feeding 
upon  Christ.  It  is  not  "he  that  eateth  this  material 
bread,"  but  "he  that  eateth  Me;"  not  eateth  Me  in  the  bread 
but  who  in  the  act  of  eating  the  bread  brings  Me  home  to  his 
soul  as  his  food,  his  life,  his  portion,  his  salvation.  Hence 
the  very  essence  of  the  sacrament  consists  in  the  doctrine 
of  Christ  that  it  embodies,  and  which  through  an  expres- 
sive sign -language,  it  brings  to  the  soul  as  its  spiritual  life. 
The  Doctrine  is  the  true  Sacrament. 

If  in  coming  to  this  sacrament  we  realize  through  it  the 
nearness  and  the  fulness  of  Christ,  if  we  thereby  receive 
afresh  into  our  hearts  His  living  truth  and  grace,  then  do 
we  feed  upon  Him.     As  we  speak  of  devouring  a  book 

i  John  x.  15,  17,  18. 


CHRIST   SATISFIES   THE   SOUL.  247 

whose  thoughts  please  us,  devouring  the  letter  of  a  friend, 
devouring  that  friend  himself  in  an  extasy  of  love,  so  we 
take  Christ  into  our  hearts  and  feed  upon  Him  and  there- 
by receive  new  strength  of  spiritual  life. 

Food  and  drink  fill  and  satisfy.  They  make  blood  and 
tissue  ;  they  sustain  life,  and  fill  our  corporeal  nature  with 
the  sense  of  satisfaction.  So  the  doctrine  of  redemption 
embodied  in  the  sacrament  fills  our  souls  with  life  from 
Christ.  He  is  the  life ;  He  gave  Himself  to  be  our  life ; 
and  so  completely  does  His  life  enter  into  us  by  faith,  that 
it  becomes  to  us  the  eternal  life,  swallowing  up  death  itself 
in  the  fulness  of  His  resurrection.  He  who  has  ascended 
up  where  He  was  before — the  living,  reigning  Son  of  Man — 
will  lift  us  up  to  the  same  life  and  glory,  if  we  will  truly 
keep  His  sacraments.  The  words  that  He  speaks  unto  us 
are  Spirit  and  are  Life. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE   DOCTRINE    OF   CHEIST   COMPLETE  AS  A  REVELATION 
FROM  GOD. 

"  I  have  given  unto  them  the  words  which  Thou 
gavest  Me ;  and  they  have  received  them,  and  have  known 
surely  that  I  came  out  from  Thee,  and  they  have  believed 
that  Thou  didst  send  Me."  1  Such  was  the  testimony  of 
Christ  to  the  source  of  His  doctrine  and  to  the  quality  of 
discipleship.  "  The  Words  which  Thou  gavest  Me."  So 
Jesus  constantly  affirmed  that  His  teaching  was  an  express 
communication  from  God,  to  be  therefore  received  as  hav- 
ing divine  authority.  He  did  not  evolve  from  His  own 
brain  a  system  of  doctrine,  and  after  thirty  years  of  re- 
flection in  His  quiet  village  home — in  communion  neither 
with  books  nor  men,  but  with  His  own  soul,  with  nature, 
and  with  God — announce  this  as  a  new  theology  for  the 
world  :  but  from  the  beginning  of  His  teaching  He  said, 
"  My  doctrine  is  not  Mine,  but  His  that  sent  Me."  "  If 
any  man  will  do  His  will,  he  shall  know  of  the  doctrine, 
whether  it  be  of  God,  or  whether  I  speak  of  Myself."  2 
While  He  spake  only  that  which  He  Himself  knew  to  be 
the  truth,  this  knowledge  was  not  the  mere  conviction  of 
logic,  nor  simply  the  intuition  of  His  human  conscious- 
ness, but  "  as  My  Father  hath  taught  Me,"  He  said,  "  I 
speak  these  things."  3  "  I  have  not  spoken  of  Myself, 
but  the  Father  which  sent  Me,  He  gave  Me  a  com- 
mandment, what  I  should  say  and  what  I  should  speak : 
and  I  know  that  His  commandment  is  life  everlasting : 

i  John  xvii.  8.  2  John  vii.  17.  .  3  John  viii.  28. 

248 


JESUS   THE   INFALLIBLE   TRUTH.  249 

■whatsoever  I  speak  therefore,  even  as  the  Father  said  unto 
Me,  so  I  speak."  '  In  thus  claiming  to  speak  the  mind 
of  God,  Jesus  asserted  much  more  than  the  general  ac- 
cordance of  His  teaching  with  divine  truth — such  an  ac- 
cordance as  might  be  shown  by  comparison  and  inference 
— He  meant  that  He  spake  directly  as  the  mouth  of  God ; 
not  commissioned,  merely,  to  deliver  a  message,  nor  in- 
spired to  perceive  and  utter  certain  truths,  but  having  such 
a  union  with  God  and  such  a  knowledge  of  God,  that  the 
mind  of  God  found  expression  through  His  words,  the 
voice  of  God  uttered  itself  through  His  lips.  "The  words 
that  I  speak  unto  you,  I  speak  not  of  Myself;  but  the 
Father  that  dwelleth  in  Me,  He  doeth  the  works.  The 
word  which  ye  hear  is  not  Mine,  but  the  Father's  which 
sent  Me."  2  "  The  peculiar  import  of  His  doctrine,"  says 
Neander,  "consists  in  its  relations  to  Himself  as  a  part  of 
His  self-revelation,  an  image  of  His  unorigiuated  and  in- 
herent life.  His  power  lay  in  the  impression  which  His 
manifestation  and  life  as  the  incarnate  God  produced;  and 
this  could  never  have  been  derived  from  without." 

AVhat  Jesus  constantly  declared  to  men  concerning 
the  source  of  His  teachings,  He  reaffirmed  when  sum- 
ming up  His  life  in  the  solemn  act  of  prayer  to  the 
Father.  "I  have  manifested  Thy  Name  unto  the  men 
whom  Thou  gavest  Me  out  of  the  world:  Thine  they  were, 
and  Thou  gavest  them  Me ;  and  they  have  kept  Thy 
word.  Now  they  have  known  that  all  things  whatsoever 
Thou  hast  given  Me  are  of  Thee.  For  I  have  given  unto 
them  the  words  which  Thou  gavest  Me  ;"  3  and  again,  "  I 
have  given  them  Thy  vord."  *  What  Jesus  taught  was 
the  absolute,  the  infallible,  the  authoritative  truth  of  God 
— this,  and  nothing  short  of  this ;  this,  and  nothing  else 
than  this. 

But  the  question  here  arises,  How  fully  did  Christ  present 

^ohn  xii.  49.     2Johnxiv.  10,24.     3Johnxvii.   6,7.     *  John  xvii.  1J. 


250  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

the  truth  of  God  ?  To  what  extent  did  He  convey  to  men 
the  truth  that  God  would  have  them  to  know,  for  the 
right  improvement  of  the  present  life,  and  for  salvation  in 
the  life  to  come  ?  That  He  omitted  to  speak  of  many  sub- 
jects concerning  which  we  are  curious  and  anxious  to  be 
informed,  the  heart  knows  too  well  which  has  gone  to  His 
word  with  troubled  questionings  about  its  future,  only  to 
meet  there  a  new  demand  upon  its  faith.  But  was  this 
omission  of  accident  or  of  design  ?  Was  it  owing  to  some 
limitation  upon  His  knowledge,  or  to  the  brevity  of  His 
life,  or  the  lack  of  opportunity  ?  or  was  it  a  purposed 
withholding  according  to  the  will  of  God  ?  Had  Jesus 
lived  say  ten  or  twenty  years  longer,  may  Ave  infer  that 
He  would  have  thought  out  some  subjects  more  fully  and 
have  expanded  these  in  His  discourses  ?  or  that  occasion 
would  have  arisen  for  discoursing  upon  topics  now  left  un- 
touched ?  or  that  in  any  way  He  would  have  added  to  the 
sum  and  substance  of  the  truth  that  He  actually  declared? 
In  other  words,  did  He  die  before  He  had  communicated 
everything  to  mankind  that  the  Father  intended  to  reveal 
by  Him  when  He  brought  His  first-begotten  into  the 
world  ?  Would  the  prolongation  of  the  life  and  ministry  of 
Christ  have  afforded  any  solution  of  problems  and  mys- 
teries now  left  unsolved  ? 

Take  for  instance  three  questions, — which  perhaps  more 
than  any  others  have  occupied  the  speculative  theology  of 
the  Church,  and  tasked  the  faith  of  individual  believers. 

(a.)  What  is  the  nature  of  God  and  how  stand  the 
" Father  and  the  Son  related  to  this  nature  in  common  ? 
Jesus  coming  from  the  bosom  of  the  Father  declared  Him, 
"  manifested  "  Him,  and  taught  the  oneness  of  the  Father 
and  the  Son : — but  the  metaphysical  conception  of  the 
divine  essence  and  unity  He  never  touched  upon,  nor 
would  He  have  enlightened  us  in  that  direction  had  He 
continued  to  preach  for  thirty  years.     "  All  things,"  said 


THE   SILENCE   OF    CHRIST.  251 

He,  "  are  delivered  unto  Me  of  My  Father ;  and  no  man 
knoweth  the  Son,  but  the  Father,  neither  knoweth  any 
man  the  Father,  save  the  Son,  and  He  to  whomsoever  the 
Son  will  reveal  Him."  l  But  while  Jesus  did  reveal  the 
Father  morally  and  spiritually,  He  gave  no  answer  to  the 
questions  which  metaphysical  theology  is  evermore  raising 
concerning  the  essence  of  God  and  the  consubstantiality  of 
the  Son  with  the  Father :  and  this  because  such  questions 
did  not  lie  within  the  purport  of  the  mission  for  which 
God  sent  Him  into  the  world. 

(b.)  Take  next  the  question  of  Christ's  second  coming — 
the  time  of  it  and  the  manner  of  His  kingdom — questions 
which  in  every  succeeding  age  have  agitated  the  Church, 
and  divided  its  faith.  Such  questions  our  Lord  expressly 
declined  to  answer ;  saying  to  His  over-curious  disciples, 
"  It  is  not  for  you  to  know  the  times  or  the  seasons  which 
the  Father  hath  put  in  His  own  power." 2 

(c)  And  once  more,  how  reticent  He  was  upon  the 
whole  class  of  questions  that  come  thronging  into  the  mind, 
in  view  of  death  and  the  hereafter — those  exciting,  perplex- 
ing, agonizing  questions  :  Where  is  the  spirit  ?  Does  it 
yet  know  me  ?  Shall  we  meet,  and  know,  and  love  again  ? 
How  naturally  could  all  such  questions  have  been  an- 
swered by  our  Lord  as  He  conversed  of  the  death  of  Laza- 
rus, and  when  He  stood  by  his  grave ;  but  concerning  the 
physical  or  metaphysical  conditions  of  existence  after  death 
both  His  lips  and  the  lips  of  Lazarus  were  sealed,  while  yet 
He  proclaimed  to  the  whole  dying  race  of  man,  "  I  am 
the  resurrection  and  the  life — he  that  believeth  in  me, 
though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live."3 

The  revelation  of  Christ  then  was  not  abbreviated  by  His 
opportunities,  by  His  death,  nor  by  any  known  limitation 
whatsoever.  The  Scriptural  view  of  His  mission  gives  no 
reason  to  suspect  that  He  failed  to  communicate  any  part  of 

1  Matt.  xi.  27.  3Acte  i.  7.  s  John  xi.  25. 


252  THE  THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

that  truth  of  God  which  it  had  seemed  good  in  the  sight  of 
the  Father  should  be  revealed  ;  but  on  the  contrary  we  are 
told  that  the  Lord  Jesus  did  make  known  all  that  the  Father 
would  communicate  to  mankind  with  respect  to  their  salva- 
tion from  ruin  unto  life  eternal.  The  revelation  was  per- 
fected and  completed  in  Him,  and  He  could  say,  "  all  things 
that  I  have  heard  of  my  Father,  I  have  made  known  unto 
you ;"  and  in  His  last  prayer,  Jesus,  addressing  His  Father 
said,  "  I  have  finished  the  work  which  Thou  gavest  me  to 
do."1 

Prominent  among  the  elements  of  His  work  was,  pro- 
claiming the  truth  of  God,  and  bringing  men  into  the 
kingdom  of  God  through  allegiance  to  that  Truth.  This 
is  the  undertone  of  that  wonderful  prayer 2  in  which  our 
Lord  uttered  His  own  conception  of  His  mission,  and — in 
what  He  had  accomplished  for  His  disciples,  and  what  He 
supplicated  on  their  behalf — declared  He  had  finished 
the  work  that  His  Father  had  given  Him  to  do.  He  had 
come  into  the  world  that  He  might  recover  men  to  God  ; — 
the  work  of  reconciliation,  as  to  the  form  of  it,  would  be 
consummated  by  His  death :— this  He  had  foreshadowed 
in  His  discourse  to  His  disciples,  and  this  finishing  stroke 
was  about  to  be  given  to  the  life  and  doctrine  of  the  Son 
of  God.  But  while  His  death  is  present  in  His  OM^n 
thought  as  the  finishing  act  by  which  the  Son  of  man 
shall  be  glorified,  and  God  shall  be  glorified  in  Him,  that 
which  Jesus  makes  prominent  in  His  prayer  is  the  doc- 
trine  of  divine  love  and  restoration,  by  whose  renovating 
and  sanctifying  power  He  had  gathered  and  yet  would  gather 
His  Church  into  a  blissful  oneness  of  life,  in  Himself  and 
the  Father. 

He  had  glorified  the  Father  by  bringing  men  out  of  the 
power  of  the  world,  sin  and  death,  into  that  true  spiritual 
life  which  shall  be  eternal ;  but  this  He  now  defines  to  be — 

l  John  xvii.  4.  2  John  xvii. 


THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD    IS    EIFE.  253 

knowing  the  only  true  God  and  Jesus  Christ — knowing 
with  that  knowledge  which  makes  its  object  real,  and  re- 
ceives it  into  the  life  as  a  possession  and  a  power.  This 
knowledge  Jesus  had  imparted  by  manifesting  the  Father 
to  His  disciples ;  giving  unto  them  the  words  that  the 
Father  had  given  Him;  and  the  proof  of  the  divine  life  in 
them  was,  that  they  had  received  this  word  of  God  and 
kept  it.  He  prayed  that  they  might  be  sanctified  and  per- 
fected through  this  same  word  of  truth ;  and  closed  His 
petition  with  the  words,  "  O  righteous  Father  the  world 
hath  not  known  Thee ;  but  I  have  known  Thee,  and  these 
have  known  that  Thou  hast  sent  me :  and  I  have  declared 
unto  them  Thy  name,  and  will  declare  it :  that  the  love 
wherewith  Thou  hast  loved  me  may  be  in  them,  and  I  in 
them." 

This  declaring  the  truth  from  God  in  such  wise  as  to 
bring  men  into  a  true  life  in  the  knowledge  and  the  love 
of  God,  was  so  integral  and  vital  in  the  work  of  Christ 
that  He  gave  it  to  Pilate  in  evidence  of  His  royal  com- 
mission :  "  Art  thou  a  King  f — "  To  this  end  was  I  born, 
and  for  this  cause  came  I  into  the  world,  that  I  should 
bear  witness  unto  the  truth  ;"  '  and  having  set  up  the 
kingdom  of  truth  in  believing  souls,  to  be  perpetuated 
through  their  testimony,  and  by  the  power  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  Jesus  could  say  to  His  Father,  "  I  have  glorified 
Thee  on  the  earth,  I  have  finished  the  work  which  Thou 
gavest  Me  to  do." 

The  comprehensive  completeness  of  the  doctrine  of 
Christ  in  all  that  concerns  the  restoration  of  man  to  God, 
his  spiritual  well-being  and  his  eternal  life,  assures  us 
that  as  the  Son  of  God  sent  to  give  light  to  the  world,  He 
finished  His  work  in  His  personal  ministry  upon  earth. 
All  that  the  apostles  did  afterwards,  under  the  guidance 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  all  that  the  Church  has  since  accoru- 

1  John  x'viii.  37. 


254  THE    THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

plished  through  her  teaching  ministry  and  her  schools  of 
theology,  has  been  simply  in  the  way  of  interpreting,  un- 
folding, and  applying  that  which  Jesus  Christ  Himself 
gave  in  its  substance,  and  with  a  germinating  power  capa- 
ble of  such  expansion  to  the  thought,  and  such  application 
to  the  life  of  all  after  ages.  "The  teaching  of  Christ  pre- 
sented seeds  and  stimulants  of  thought.  It  must,  therefore, 
by  no  means  surprise  us  to  find  that  the  full  import  of  most 
of  His  words  was  not  comprehended  by  His  contempora- 
ries; such  a  result,  indeed,  was  just  what  we  might  expect. 
He  would  not  have  been  Son  of  God  and  Son  of  man,  had 
not  His  words,  like  His  works,  with  all  their  adaptation  to 
the  circumstances  of  the  times,  contained  some  things  that 
were  inexplicable;  had  they  not  borne  concealed  within  them 
the  germ  of  an  infinite  development,  reserved  for  future 
ages  to  unfold.  It  is  this  feature  which  distinguishes  Christ 
from  all  other  teachers  of  men.  Advance  as  they  may,  they 
can  never  reach  Him ;  their  only  task  need  be,  by  taking 
Him  more  and  more  into  their  life  and  thought,  to  learn 
better  how  to  bring  forth  the  treasures  that  lie  concealed  in 
Him." l  The  study  we  have  devoted  to  the  doctrines 
of  Christ,  one  by  one,  has  prepared  us  to  appreciate  this, 
by  now  grouping  these  doctrines  in  various  lights  for  a 
general  survey  of  their  range  and  bearing,  their  significance 
and  moment,  their  thoroughness  and  depth,  their  practical 
scope  and  influence. 

How  comprehensive  was  the  doctrine  of  Christ  in  the 
range  of  topics  AA'hich  it  embraced,  and  in  the  bearing  of 
these  upon  the  supreme  end  of  His  mission — the  recovery 
of  man  to  holiness.  All  intelligent  beings  of  Avhose  exist- 
ence we  have  any  knoAvledge,  or  AA7hose  existence  had  been 
shadowed  in  the  creations  of  poetry  and  philosophy — 
AvhereATer  found  in  the  peopled  realms  of  space — Avere 
brought  Avithin  the  range  of  His  doctrine,  in  their  rela- 

1  Kcandor:  JLife  of  Jesue  Christ,  \  65. 


THE    VAST    RANGE    OF    CHRIST  S    DOCTRINE.  255 

tion  to  man's  spiritual  condition,  whether  of  sin  and  its 
conflicts,  or  of  salvation  and  its  hopes.  Man  himself  in 
his  personal  character,  his  condition,  his  wants,  his  desires, 
his  aims,  his  temptations,  his  perils,  his  possibilities ;  man 
in  his  relations  to  his  fellows,  to  the  community,  to  the 
race ;  the  angels  as  messengers  of  love,  rejoicing  over  the 
returning  prodigal,  witnessing  the  confession  of  the  peni- 
tent, representing  little  children  before  the  face  of  God  in 
heaven,  bearing  the  child  of  God  from  want  and  wretched- 
ness here  to  Abraham's  bosom,  attending  upon  the  solem- 
nities of  the  last  judgment  and  welcoming  the  redeemed  to 
the  glory  of  the  Father ;  the  devil  and  his  angels  cast  out 
from  heaven,  infesting  the  earth  to  possess  the  bodies  and 
the  souls  of  men,  and  awaiting  their  malignant  triumph  in 
the  condemned  of  the  last  day ; — God  in  His  supremacy 
as  Creator,  Lord  and  Judge  of  all ;  in  the  infinitude  of 
His  presence  and  the  plenitude  of  His  power;  in  His  spir- 
itual nature  as  the  object  of  worship ;  in  His  holiness  to 
be  revered,  in  His  paternal  bounty  to  be  praised  and  loved ; 
in  His  gracious  nearness  as  the  hearer  of  prayer :  in  the 
habitation  of  His  glory,  prepared  for  the  home  of  His 
children ; — God  in  the  mysterious  unfolding  of  Himself 
through  the  only  begotten  Son,  and  the  Holy  Comforter, 
while  yet  He  retains  the  ineffable  oneness  of  His  being — 
this  immense  scale  of  existence  from  lowest  to  highest,  and 
from  worst  to  best,  was  all  covered  by  the  doctrine  of 
Christ,  bringing  the  whole  moral  universe  into  relations  of 
good  or  evil  with  mankind.  And  as  all  beings,  so  too 
all  worlds  were  brought  within  the  compass  of  His  doc- 
trine ; — this  world  with  all  its  creatures,  as  under  God's 
providential  care  ;  the  world  of  spirits,  subject  to  His  con- 
trol ;  the  world  of  the  dead,  obedient  to  His  voice ;  and 
that  yet  more  intangible,  impenetrable  sphere,  where  spirit- 
ual influences  act  upon  the  thoughts  and  the  hearts  of 
men,  to  enlighten  and  sanctify,  or  to  delude  and  destroy. 


256  THE    THEOLOGY    OF    CHRIST. 

And  as  with  all  beings  and  all  worlds,  so  with  all 
periods  of  duration — these  were  brought  into  the  doctrine 
of  Christ  so  far  as  related  to  the  main  question  of  human 
redemption.  The  history  of  this  world  as  a  preparation 
for  Him  of  whom  Moses  and  the  prophets  did  testify ;  the 
unwritten  history  of  that  kingdom  prepared  before  the 
foundation  of  the  world,  known  to  Him  whose  conscious- 
ness went  back  to  the  glory  of  the  Father  before  the  world 
was ;  the  coming  ages  to  be  illumined  by  His  gospel,  the 
nations  to  be  made  His  disciples,  the  end  of  the  world,  the 
raising  of  the  dead,  the  judgment,  and  the  eternal  state  and 
destinies  beyond,  these  all  were  brought  in  line  within  the 
doctrine  of  Christ.  What  other  teacher — even  though  en- 
lightened by  His  guidance — has  taken  such  a  grasp  upon 
all  being,  all  time,  all  worlds,  and  gathering  within  His 
thought  all  things  visible  and  invisible — heaven,  earth, 
hades,  hell,  the  eternity  before  the  world  was,  the  ages 
gone,  the  ages  to  come,  and  the  eternity  beyond — has  con- 
verged and  concentrated  all  upon  the  focus  of  man's  resto- 
ration to  his  true  position  in  this  vast  circle  of  beings, 
powers,  ages,  worlds? 

The  completeness  of  the  Revelation  in  Christ  appears 
also  in  the  significance  and  moment  of  His  doctrines.  All 
truth  is  important  to  be  known  ;  all  knowledge  has  some, 
value  and  use  for  its  possessor ;  and  he  who  makes  any 
discovery,  settles  any  fact,  establishes  any  principle,  not 
only  enriches  himself,  but  is  in  some  particular  a  bene- 
factor of  mankind ;  and  the  reward  of  discovering  truth, 
the  advantage  of  acquiring  knowledge,  is  a  stimulus  to 
that  application  of  the  mental  powers  which  is  itself  a 
benefit  of  no  mean  value.  But  were  the  question  one  of 
sending  a  messenger  from  heaven  clothed  with  divine  wis- 
dom and  authority,  to  communicate  to  men  a  knowledge 
of  truth  as  known  absolutely  to  God,  there  would  be  a 
choice  among  truths,  in  respect  both   of  subjects  and  the 


A  REVELATION  FOR  HIGHER  TRUTH.      257 

manner  of  imparting  knowledge.  Were  one  invited  to  an 
evening  with  a  distinguished  scholar,  poet,  artist,  lie  would 
not  care  to  hear  him  talk  of  the  weather,  of  the  Pacific 
Rail-road,  the  Cabinet,  or  the  financial  policy  of  the 
country,  but  would  crave  to  hear  from  him  something 
upon  that  which  he  knew  so  much  better  than  any  one 
else.  One  would  not  wish  Plato  to  talk  about  the  climate, 
nor  Shakspeare  about  the  crops,  nor  Raphael  about  the 
currency,  nor  would  it  be  worth  while  an  angel's  coming 
to  converse  for  an  hour  upon  any  problem  of  physical  or 
mental  science — the  squaring  of  the  circle  or  the  law  of 
the  association  of  ideas.  There  are  things  of  so  much 
higher  moment  upon  which  he  might  enlighten  us  from  a 
knowledge  unattainable  by  man,  that  to  occupy  his  dis- 
course with  our  human  science  and  affairs  were  below  the 
dignity  of  his  mission.  The  value  of  truth  is  relative  in 
respect  to  the  subjects,  the  occasion,  the  opportunity ;  and 
that  which  for  the  moment  seems  of  absorbing  interest, 
may  dwindle  to  nothingness  in  presence  of  some  illus- 
trious person  about  to  speak  upon  the  highest  themes. 
Suppose  now  the  Son  of  God,  having  in  full,  clear  vision, 
all  truth,  all  knowledge,  all  wisdom,  to  have  come  into  the 
world  for  the  purpose  of  giving  light  to  men : — of  what 
should  He  speak?  What  themes,  what  doctrines  and 
lessons,  would  be  worthy  of  so  stupendous  a  miracle,  so 
ineffable  a  mystery  as  this  divine  incarnation  ?  Should 
He  speak  of  the  destruction  of  that  Roman  Empire  that 
then  ruled  the  world?  of  the  rising  in  after  times  of 
another  empire  whose  victorious  Caesar  should  sweep  the 
fields  of  conquest  from  the  Tagus  to  the  Tiber,  from  the 
Rhine  to  the  Moskwa?  Should  He  announce  the  dis- 
covery of  America,  the  invention  of  printing,  the  rail-way, 
the  telegraph  ?  Should  He  lay  down  a  science  of  govern- 
ment and  of  political  economy  for  the  regulation  of  human 
society,  or  a  philosophy  of  the  mind  in  respect  to  sensation, 
17 


258  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

reflection,  consciousness,  intuition?  But  knowledge  such 
as  this,  so  important  and  useful  in  regard  to  earthly  in- 
terests, was  sure  to  come,  in  the  progress  of  events,  under 
the  stimulus  of  necessity  or  the  opportunity  of  research, 
bringing  with  it  a  healthful  development  of  the  race  by 
the  very  act  of  investigation  and  discovery. 

There  were  questions  deeper,  broader,  higher,  for  the  so- 
lution of  which  the  wisdom  of  ages  was  unequal,  but  which 
the  Son  of  God  could  illumine  with  a  word.  With  what 
feeling  does  God  look  upon  man  a  sinner  ?  How  can  the 
just  and  holy  God,  offended  in  His  justice  and  holiness  by 
the  impiety  of  men,  be  approached  with  hope  of  favor  ? 
How  can  a  man  be  just  with  God?  How  rise  to  intercourse 
with  the  Father  of  his  spirit  ?  How  escape  the  condem- 
nation that  he  knows  is  over  him,  that  he  feels  within 
him  ?  How  find  entrance  to  the  paradise  of  purity,  peace, 
and  love  which  is  still  the  dream  and  hope  of  a  fallen 
world  ?     How  meet  death  and  that  which  is  after  death  ? 

Questions  such  as  these,  of  the  restoring  and  perfecting 
of  the  soul  that  shall  outlast  all  empires  and  all  ages,  were 
the  questions  to  be  answered  when  the  Son  of  God  stood 
face  to  face  with  a  sinful  dying  world,  to  speak  the  words 
that  had  been  given  Him  of  the  Father.  And  questions 
of  such  infinite  moment  filled  the  thought  of  Christ  and 
imparted  to  His  discourses  a  fulness  of  significance  and 
value  that  can  pertain  to  no  wisdom  of  man.  In  the 
supreme  matter  of  man's  recovery  to  God,  to  holiness  and 
heaven,  no  point  is  left  untouched,  no  question  unsolved. 

The  completeness  of  Christ's  teaching  appears  further, 
in  the  thoroughness  and  depth  of  His  doctrines.  He  laid 
the  axe  at  the  root  of  the  tree :  He  drove  the  plowshare 
down  under  the  soil.  He  did  not  talk  of  the  overturning 
of  the  Roman  empire ;  He  overturned  it  by  the  principles 
which  He  set  in  motion  against  its  oppressions,  its  vices, 
its  crimes.      He  did  not  furnish   a  philosophy  of  social 


SUMMAJRY   OF   CHRIST^   WORDS.  259 

order;  He  reconstructed  society  by  a  few  simple  truths 
concerning  the  individual,  the  family,  the  neighbor,  the 
state,  the  Church.  He  did  not  deliver  a  treatise  on  trade 
or  political  economy,  but  He  gave  rules  that  rendered  in- 
justice, fraud,  dishonesty  impossible  within  His  kingdom 
and  disgraceful  outside  of  it.  What  He  taught  took  hold 
upon  the  innermost  thoughts,  feelings,  passions,  motives, 
imaginations  of  the  human  heart,  to  work  there  a  revolu- 
tion deep  and  radical.  And  His  doctrines  still  confront 
the  soul  as  a  finality  in  respect  to  its  character,  its  needs, 
its  duties  and  its  hopes.  These  words  of  Christ  strike  the 
soul  with  awe,  for  by  them  it  shall  be  judged.  Not  all 
the  volumes  of  moral  science  written  since  His  days,  not 
all  the  legislation  of  united  Christendom,  could  weigh 
upon  us  with  so  much  of  authority  as  we  feel  in  the  few 
little  sentences  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount. 

From  the  survey  we  have  now  taken,  how  comprehen- 
sive is  the  doctrine  of  Christ.  The  word  of  Christ  is  that 
God  is  a  Spirit — to  be  worshipped  therefore  in  spirit  and 
in  truth ;  that  He  is  holy — and  therefore  to  be  glorified  by 
the  fruits  of  holiness  in  the  lives  of  men ;  that  He  is  a 
Father,  and  therefore  to  be  approached  with  filial  faith  in 
prayer,  to  be  acknowledged  with  filial  gratitude  in  all  the 
blessings  of  life,  and  to  be  trusted,  with  a  filial  confidence, 
under  all  trials  and  cares. 

The  word  of  Christ  is  that  the  heart  of  man  is  sinful ; 
that  out  of  it  as  from  a  fountain  flow  all  corrupt  and  bitter 
streams  ;  that  from  it  as  a  root  proceed  all  evil  and  bitter 
fruits  :  and,  therefore,  that  man  must  be  born  again,  and 
made  pure  from  within  or  he  cannot  see  God. 

The  word  of  Christ  is  that  He  was  with  the  Father  in 
His  glory  before  the  world  was ;  that  He  and  the  Father 
are  one ;  that  by  virtue  of  His  original  divine  nature,  He 
has  all  power  in  heaven  and  in  earth,  the  power  of  life  and 
of  death,  power  to  forgive  sins.     The  word  of  Christ  is 


260  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

that  this  eternal  Son  of  God,  came  into  the  world  to  seek 
and  to  save  that  which  was  lost ; — came,  sent  by  the 
Father's  love ;  came,  not  to  condemn  the  world  but  that 
the  world  through  Him  might  be  saved.  The  word  of 
Christ  is  that  He  draws  men  to  Himself  by  being  lifted  up 
upon  the  cross ;  that  He  gave  His  flesh,  that  is  His  life, 
for  the  life  of  the  world ;  that,  like  the  corn  of  wheat,  He 
must  die  in  order  that  the  fruit  of  His  coming  might  ap- 
pear. 

The  word  of  Christ  is  that  He  is  the  resurrection  and 
the  life ;  and  that  whoso  believeth  on  Him  shall  not  perish 
but  have  everlasting  life,  and  shall  be  raised  up  at  the  last 
day.  The  word  of  Christ  is  that  He,  the  Son  of  Man, 
shall  come  again  in  the  glory  of  the  Father,  to  judge  the 
world  ;  that  He  will  raise  the  dead  ;  that  He  will  separate 
the  sheep  from  the  goats ;  that  they  who  by  faith  have 
lived  righteously,  shall  be  blessed  of  His  Father  and  wel- 
comed to  His  kingdom ;  but  they  who  have  been  un- 
believing and  unrighteous  shall  go  away  into  everlasting 
punishment.     All  this  body  of  truth  is  the  word  of  Christ. 

If  we  formulate  Christ's  teachings  as  doctrines  ;  we  find 
here  the  doctrine  of  God's  spiritual  essence,  of  His  abso- 
lute perfection,  of  His  infinite  love ;  the  doctrine  of  the 
divine  personality  of '  Christ  Himself;  the  doctrine  of 
man's  sinful  and  lost  condition:  the  doctrine  of  the  re- 
demptive sacrifice  of  Jesus  for  the  sin  of  the  world ;  the 
doctrine  of  the  new  birth  or  regeneration  by  the  Holy 
Spirit,  as  indispensable  to  our  admission  into  the  kingdom 
of  heaven ;  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  of 
the  general  judgment  and  of  the  awards  of  life  and  of 
death,  alike  final  and  eternal.  All  the  great  doctrines 
known  in  theology  as  the  doctrines  of  grace, — doctrines 
that  revolve  around  the  central  truth  of  man's  deliverance 
from  sin  and  death  and  hell  through .  the  sacrifice  of  the 
Son  of  God — the  doctrines  of  sin  and  reconciliation,  o° 


THE   PRACTICAL   REACH   OF   CHRIST'S   DOCTRINE.    201 

pentance  and  faith,  of  pardon  and  salvation  through  the 
cross  of  Jesus,  of  regeneration  and  sanctification  through 
the  Spirit,  of  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  and  eternal  judg- 
ment— these  doctrines,  stripped  of  technical  phraseology 
and  of  human  philosophy,  are  the  word  of  Christ. 

The  word  of  Christ  is  preceptive  as  well  as  doctrinal  ; 
it  is  His  word  that  we  be  humble  and  meek,  merciful  and 
pure,  peaceable  and  holy,  prayerful  and  charitable ;  it  is 
the  word  of  Christ  that  we  seek  righteousness  and  the 
kingdom  of  God;  it  is  the  word  of  Christ  that  we  love 
one  another,  and  do  good  unto  all  men ;  it  is  the  word  of 
Christ  that  we  glorify  our  Father  in  heaven  through  the 
abounding  fruits  of  righteousness. 

The  word  of  Christ  is  a  word  of  promise  also.  It  is 
the  word  of  Christ  that  He  will  send  the  Comforter  to 
teach,  enlighten,  console,  and  sanctify  us  :  it  is  the  word 
of  Christ  that  He  and  the  Father  will  abide  in  the  believ- 
ing, gentle,  loving  soul ;  it  is  the  word  of  Christ  that  in 
the  work  of  saving  men  through  His  gospel,  He  will  be 
with  us  alway  even  to  the  end  of  the  world  ;  it  is  the 
word  of  Christ  that  whatsoever  we  ask  the  Father  in  His 
name  He  will  give  it  us  :  it  is  the  word  of  Christ  that 
His  peace  shall  be  ours,  and  His  joy  shall  be  fulfilled  in 
us  ;  it  is  the  word  of  Christ  that  He  will  prepare  a  place 
for  us  in  His  Father's  house,  and  will  come  again  and  re- 
ceive us  to  Himself. 

All  that  the  Gospel  contains  for  our  instruction  in  right- 
eousness ;  for  our  elevation  in  character  ;  for  our  consola- 
tion under  trial ;  for  our  hope  in  the  future  ;  for  our  joy 
and  peace  on  earth,  and  our  final  felicity  in  heaven,  is  the 
word  of  Christ. 

The  completeness  of  the  revelation  by  Christ  appears  in 
the  practical  scope  and  influence  of  His  doctrines.  In  the 
vast  range  covered  by  His  teachings,  while  these  touch  at 
intervals  upon  themes  of  thought  the  most  abstruse  and 


862  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHEIST. 

matters  most  remote  from  human  experience,  there  is  yet 
nothing  mystical,  nothing  speculative,  nothing  for  mere 
abstract  contemplation;  but  every  doctrine,  whether  con- 
cerning man,  angels,  God,  this  world  or  that  to  come,  takes 
right  hold  upon  human  life  and  character,  upon  duty  here 
and  destiny  hereafter.  Beginning  with  the  heart,  the  per- 
sonal soul,  the  individual  life,  the  truth  as  Christ  gave  it 
works  out  into  all  the  lines  of  human  action,  into  all  phases 
and  conditions  of  society,  into  all  business,  all  pleasure,  all 
intercourse,  all  official  place,  all  relationships,  all  plans 
and  all  obligations — past,  present  and  to  come.  One  can 
be  nothing,  do  nothing,  speak  nothing,  think  nothing,  to 
which  this  truth  does  not  apply,  with  a  commanding,  a 
controlling  power. 

It  is  this  comprehensive  completeness  of  Christ's  teach- 
ing in  the  essential  point  of  character,  that  makes  Him 
indeed  the  Way,  the  Teuth  and  the  Life.  As  He  came 
from  God  to  lead  us  to  God,  and  has  pointed  the  way  fully 
and  clearly,  nothing  outside  of  Him  can  be  the  way.  As 
He  brought  to  us  the  words  of  the  Father  to  light  us  up 
to  God,  there  can  be  no  truth  proper  or  needful  or  useful 
for  salvation,  that  is  not  embraced  in  His  teachings.  And 
as  His  light  was  the  life  of  men,  there  can  be  no  life  apart 
from  Him.  To  receive  Christ  as  teacher  is  to  receive  Him 
in  His  fulness  as  the  law  of  life,  the  way  of  salvation. 

"  This  is  the  work  of  God,  that  ye  believe  on  Him  whom 
He  hath  sent ;"  J — this  is  the  sum  of  faith  and  of  duty.  "  I 
know  not,"  says  Schleiermacher,  "  where  we  can  find  any 
passage,  even  in  the  writings  of  the  Apostles,  which  says  so 
clearly  and  significantly,  that  all  eternal  life  in  men  pro- 
ceeds from  nothing  else  than  faith  in  Christ." 

There  can  be  no  improvement  upon  Christianity  as  this 
was  presented  at  the  first  by  Christ.  To  say  that  theology, 
in  the  meaning  of  a  human  science  of  interpretation,  and  of 

>  John  vi.  29. 


Christ's  teaching  for  all  ages.  263 

logical  definition  and  construction  applied  to  the  doctrines 
of  Christianity,  can  be  improved,  is  only  to  say  that  human 
imperfection,  which  mars  whatever  it  touches,  attaches  to 
any  system  that  man  can  frame,  even  though  the  materials 
furnished  him  be  perfect  and  divine.  But  when  men 
speak  of  outgrowing  Christianity,  of  finding  a  truth  more 
perfect,  a  way  more  simple,  a  salvation  more  complete, 
they  might  as  well  talk  of  dispensing  with  sunlight  by 
some  new  patent  of  science  for  consuming  the  oils,  gases  or 
metals  of  the  earth.  The  very  truths  purporting  to  be  in- 
tuitions of  consciousness,  that  are  brought  forth  to  supplant 
Christianity,  are  either  unconsciously  derived  from  Chris- 
tianity, or  find  in  it  full  recognition  and  confirmation. 
As  the  strokes  of  the  hammer  that  bound  to  its  bed  the 
last  link  of  the  Pacific  Rail-road  rang  clear  and  musical 
upon  the  telegraphic  bells  all  over  the  continent,  proclaim- 
ing the  way  opened  from  sea  to  sea,  so  the  words  of  Jesus, 
proceeding  from  the  central  point  of  human  history — 
where  this  world  was  linked  once  more  to  heaven — vibrate 
through  the  ages,  in  every  clime  and  tongue,  making  mu- 
sical the  soul  that  .listens  for  their  coming.  The  words 
that  the  beloved  disciple  caught  and  treasured  for  such  as 
had  not  seen  the  Lord  and  yet  had  believed,  were  written 
for  us  also,  that  we  might  believe  that  Jesus  is  the 
Christ,  the  Son  of  God  ;  and  that  believing  we  might 
have  life  through  His  name.  l 

»  John  xxi.  31. 


APPENDIX  I. 

THE   GENUINENESS   OF   THE   GOSPEL   OF   JOHN. 

I.    CHARACTERISTICS   OF   THE    FOURTH    GOSPEL. 

The  Theology  of  Christ  is  largely  derived  from  the  Fourth  Gospel, 
commonly  known  as  the  Gospel  of  John.  This  Gospel  has  certain 
peculiarities  that  distinguish  it  in  a  marked  manner  from  the  other 
three,  commonly  called  the  Synoptics.  In  the  duration  it  assigns  to 
the  ministry  of  Jesus,  in  the  number  of  His  recorded  visits  to  Jeru- 
salem, in  the  date  of  the  Last  Supper,  and  in  other  minor  points  of 
detail,  there  are  differences  between  the  fourth  Gospel  and  the 
Synoptics  that  have  tasked  the  ingenuity  of  critics  in  arranging  a 
harmony  of  the  Gospels.  These  points  are  discussed  at  length  in 
recent  critical  commentaries  on  John,  and  in  learned  and  able  mono- 
graphs upon  the  genuineness  of  the  fourth  Gospel,  but  they  are  only 
incidental  to  the  line  of  inquiry  pursued  in  this  volume.1 

A  more  important  distinction  between  the  Fourth  Gospel  and  the 
Synoptics  is  found  in  the  style  and  subjects  of  the  teaching  of  Christ, 
and  in  the  representation  of  His  person  and  character.  In  the  Syn- 
optics Jesus  appears  mainly  as  the  Son  of  Man,  who  teaches  moral 
truths  and  practical  virtues  by  parables  and  sententious  sayings. 
Even  the  sermon  on  the  mount,  though  linked  together  by  a  subtile 
law  of  association  and  development,  is  a  series  of  apothegms  rather 
than  a  consecutive  unfolding  of  doctrine.  But  in  the  Fourth  Gospel, 
which  opens  with  the  doctrine  of  the  Logos,  Jesus  appears  more  com- 
monly as  the  Son  of  God,  declaring  and  vindicating  His  Messiahship 
and  His  personal  relations  to  the  Father,  and  in  extended  discourses 

1  See  Alford,  Com.  on  John;  Meyer's  Kom.  ilber  das  Bhang,  des  Johannes. 
De  Wette's  Kom.  ilber  das  Evang.  des  Johannes.  Weiss,  Lehrbuch  der  Bib. 
Theolor/ie  des  N.  Testaments.  Bleek's  Einleitung  in  das  N.  T.  This  standard 
work  is  now  accessible  in  English,  through  Clark's  "Foreign  Theological 
Library;"  it  is  distinguished  by  candor,  learning  and  ability.  I>e  Groot, 
Basilides  als  erster  Zevge  filr  alter  und  autoritat  Neutestamentlicher  Schriften, 
inbesondere  des  Johannesevangelhims ;  and  the  Essays  of  Prof.  George  P. 
Fisher,  D.  J),  on  the  Supernatural  Origin  of  Christianity.— To  these  Essays,  as 
well  as  to  Bloek's  Einleitung,  I  have  been  specially  indebted  in  preparing  this 
Appendix. 

264 


VIEWS   OF  STRAUSS  AND   BAUR.  2G5 

and  dialogues  setting  forth  the  deepest  doctrines  of  the  spiritual  life. 
This  last  feature  has  given  rise  to  the  theory  that  the  author  of  the 
fourth  Gospel  was  a  Hellenic  Christian,  of  the  Alexandrine  school, 
who  constructed  a  fictitious  life  of  Christ  under  the  name  of  John, 
in  order  to  give  to  his  theological  scheme  the  semblance  of  apostolical 
authority.  A  candid  survey  of  the  whole  range  of  evidences,  both 
internal  and  external,  will,  we  think,  show  the  falsity  of  this  theory, 
and  result  in  the  conviction  that  the  fourth  Gospel  was  the  work  of 
the  apostle  John. 

II.   THE   VIEW   OF   STEATSS. 

Strauss  maintains  that  it  is  impossible  to  deduce  the  faith  of  Jesus 
from  the  fourth  Gospel  : — the  tone  of  dogmatic  assertion  and  of  self- 
glorification  in  which  Jesus  there  speaks  of  Himself  and  His  relations 
to  the  Father,  is  incompatible  with  the  historical  representation  of 
His  character  given  by  the  Synoptics,  and  must  have  proceeded  from 
an  enthusiastic  and  posthumous  worshiper  of  Jesus,  who  put  his  own 
Gnostic  conceptions  of  the  "Word"  into  the  mouth  of  his  divinized 
Master. x 

From  an  examination  of  the  external  evidences  relating  to  the  first 
three  Gospels,  it  results  that,  a  little  after  the  commencement  of  the 
second  century,  one  finds  certain  traces,  if  not  of  their  existence 
under  their  present  form,  at  least  of  the  existence  of  a  great  part  of 
the  materials  that  entered  into  their  composition  ;  and  moreover,  the 
more  ancient  narratives  had  their  origin  in  the  very  country  which 
was  the  theater  of  the  events  which  they  recount.  As  to  the  fourth 
Gospel  the  results  are  far  less  favorable.  This  did  not  begin  to  be 
known  until  after  the  middle  of  the  second  century,  and  everything 
indicates  that  it  had  its  origin  in  a  foreign  country,  and  under  the 
influence  of  a  philosophy  unknown  in  the  primitive  Christian  society. 
In  the  first  three,  in  view  of  the  interval  of  several  generations 
between  the  events  that  they  narrate  and  their  definitive  composition, 
the  possibility  of  the  addition  of  legendary  and  fabulous  traits  must 
be  admitted ;  in  the  fourth  the  alloy  of  philosophical  speculation  and 
meditative  fiction  is  more  than  possible— it  is  probable.2 

III.    VIEW   OF   BAUK. 

The  strength  of  the  negative  criticism  upon  the  fourth  Gospel  is 
concentrated  in  Dr.  F.  C.  Baur,  the  acknowledged  leader  of  the 
Tubingen  School.     Baur's  conception  is  that  the  fundamental  idea  of 

»  Strauss  Das  Leben  Jesu  (1364)  §  S3.  »  Leben  Jem  (1864)  \  13. 


266  THE  THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

this  Gospel,  in  the  mind  of  its  author,  was  to  portray  the  unbelief  of 
the  Jews,  as  the  principle  of  darkness,  opposing  itself  to  the  divine 
principle  of  light  and  of  life,  incarnate  in  Jesus ;  and  that  its  plan  is 
to  follow  out  step  by  step  the  conflict  of  these  two  principles  under 
the  form  of  an  historical  drama.  He  assigns  its  composition  to  the 
epoch  when  Gnosticism  and  Montanism  flourished,  when  the  Church 
attempted  to  defend  herself  at  once  from  these  two  extreme  tendencies, 
and  was  agitated  as  to  dogma,  by  the  application  of  the  idea  of  the 
word  to  the  person  of  Christ,  and  as  to  discipline,  by  the  question  of 
the  celebration  of  the  Passover.  Without  any  positive  leanings,  the 
Gospel  concluded  within  itself  all  the  contrasts  of  its  time,  in  one 
central  and  higher  conception,  and  hence  was  received  with  universal 
favor  by  all  parties.    It  was  written  about  A.  D.  160-170. 

The  author  of  this  Gospel,  strong  in  his  own  convictions,  persuaded 
that  he  knew  better  than  the  primitive  evangelists — who  were  still 
held  in  the  prejudices  of  Judaism — the  true  spirit  of  Christianity  and 
of  Christ,  with  entire  good  faith  modified  the  evangelistic  history, 
accommodated  it  to  the  spirit  of  the  time,  and  placed  in  the  mouth  of 
Jesua  discourses  that  corresponded  with  the  evolution  of  the  Christian 
ideas  ;  and  confident  of  having  penetrated  and  revealed  to  the  world 
the  inner  glory  of  Christ,  he  felt  authorized,  if  not  to  declare  it  in 
express  terms,  at  least  to  let  it  be  understood  with  sufficient  clearness, 
that  he  was  the  beloved  disciple  of  Jesus.1 

To  sum  up  briefly  the  view  of  Baur,  it  is  that  "the  fourth  Gospel 
was  not  written  with  an  historical  aim,  but  in  advocacy  of  certain 
doctrinal  ideas ;  and  the  writer  made  use  of  the  Gospel  tradition 
already  before  him,  especially  in  the  first  three  Gospels,  in  a  very 
free  and  arbitrary  way.  The  author,  who  was  not  certainly  a  Jew 
by  birth,  lived  in  Asia  Minor,  or  more  probably  in  Alexandria,  in 
the  second  century,  at  a  time  when  the  Church  was  agitated  and 
divided  by  conflicting  parties,  by  the  Gnostic  controversies,  by  that 
concerning  the  doctrine  of  the  Logos,  by  that  concerning  Easter,  and 
by  those  of  Montanism."  2 

IV.    INTERNAL   EVIDENCES. 

Both  Strauss  and  Baur  have  admitted  the  clearness,  consistency, 
and  unity  of  the  Fourth  Gospel — that  it  is  true  to  its  own  conception 

1  Krit.    Untersuchungen  Uber  die  kanon.  Evangelien  1847,  and    Thiol.  Jahr- 
biicher  1844,  1847,  1851,  1854. 
?  Condensed  by  Bleek.    Int.  \  63. 


INTERNAL   MARKS   OF   GENUINENESS.  267 

of  Jesus  and  His  mission — though  they  deny  that  either  its  doctrines 
or  its  miracles  could  be  imputed  to  the  Jesus  of  the  Synoptical  Gos- 
pels. But  this  denial  is  in  both  instances  based  upon  a  dogmatic 
assumption.  It  is  assumed  that  the  "  Son  of  Man,"  who  appears  in 
the  Synoptics  setting  forth  in  simple  parables  the  practical  relations 
of  the  kingdom  of  God  to  this  world,  could  not  also  have  uttered  the 
lofty  and  somewhat  mystical  doctrines  of  the  Fourth  Gospel  concerning 
the  Son  of  God.  Not  to  dwell  here  upon  the  marked  diversity  of 
method  often  found  in  the  same  teacher — which  will  be  considered 
under  the  head  of  "  style " — this  assumption  is  set  aside  by  the 
simple  fact  that  "  declarations  of  Christ  are  recorded  in  the  Synoptics 
perfectly  corresponding  with  what  we  find  in  John  concerning  the 
divine  dignity  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  His  relation  to  the  Father." 
Thus  Matthew  and  Luke  declare  the  intimate  union  of  the  Son  with 
the  Father  in  language  exactly  parallel  to  the  type  of  such  declarations 
in  John  :  "All  things  are  delivered  unto  me  of  my  Father;  and  no 
man  knoweth  the  Son  but  the  Father ;  neither  knoweth  any  man 
the  Father,  save  the  Son,  and  he  to  whomsoever  the  Son  will  reveal 
Him."  l  In  showing  how  David  had  called  Him  Lord,  He  declared 
His  pre-eminence  and  His  pre-existence.2  In  giving  His  last  com- 
mission to  His  disciples,  He  asserted  the  plenitude  of  His  power  and 
the  perpetuity  of  His  being;  and  at  the  same  time  conjoined  Himself 
with  the  Father,  upon  equal  terms,  in  the  formula  of  baptism.3  Be- 
fore the  Sanhedrim,  in  answer  to  the  demand,  "  Tell  us  whether  thou 
be  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,"  He  acknowledged  the  title,  and  said 
"  Hereafter  shall  ye  see  the  Son  of  Man  sitting  on  the  right  hand  of' 
power,  and  coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven."  4  For  this  assertion  of 
divine  attributes  He  was  charged  with  blasphemy  and  adjudged 
"guilty  of  death."  The  relation  of  His  death  to  the  life  of  the  world 
was  clearly  announced  in  that  saying,  recorded  by  Matthew  and  Mark, 
"  The  Son  of  man  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister, 
and  to  give  His  life  a  ransom  for  many."  5  Thus  the  germs  of  the 
most  important  doctrines  of  Christology  embodied  in  the  Fourth 
Gospel  are  found  in  the  Synoptics ;  and  that  John,  writing  his  Gospel 
at  a  later  date,  should  have  given  greater  prominence  and  amplitude 
to  this  class  of  Christ's  sayings,  was  in  accordance  with  that  divine 
wisdom  that  evolves  life  in  its  highest  organization  from  the  simplest 
germ-cell. 

1  Mat.   xi.  27,  Luke  x.  22,  comp.  John  vi.  46  and  x.  15.     2  Mat.  xxii.  41. 
Mark  xii.  35.   Luke  xx.  41.    3  Mat.  xxviii.  18.        *  Mat.  xxvi.  63,  64. 
5  Mat.  xx.  28  ;  Mark  x.  45. 


268  THE  THEOLOGY  OF   CHBIST. 

The  objection  to  the  genuineness  of  the  fourth  Gospel  from  the 
miracles  that  it  records,  brings  into  a  question  of  pure  criticism  a 
foreign  element  of  dogmatic  speculation,  and  is  well  met  by  Bleek.  l 
"  We  must  be  content  not  to  determine  for  ourselves  beforehand,  ol 
&  priori,  how  far  the  influence  of  God's  Spirit  may  extend,  or  how 
far  not ;  we  must  admit  that  it  may  operate  not  only  on  animate  and 
human  nature,  but  upon  inanimate  nature  likewise.  It  is  only  self- 
deception  to  think  that  we  can  set  up  a  barrier  or  line  of  demarca- 
tion, determining  what  miracles  are  possible  and  what  impossible,  or 
that  it  is  by  no  means  necessary  to  infer  this  from  the  character  of 
the  miracles  themselves,  trustworthily  attested  and  recorded.  It  is 
quite  unreasonable,  on  the  ground  merely  that  St.  John's  Gospel 
records  miracles  as  wrought  by  Jesus,  which  do  not  come  within  our 
arbitrarily  pre  conceived  notion  of  a  possible  miracle,  to  deny  to  it 
that  trustworthiness  and  historical  genuineness  which  it  so  evidently 
possesses  in  so  many  points.  It  is  not  unimportant  to  observe  that 
the  accounts  given  of  miracles  in  the  fourth  Gospel  are  comparatively 
rare,  and  by  no  means  so  frequent  as  in  the  Synoptics ;  and  this 
should  awaken  in  the  minds  of  persons  who  so  argue  a  pre  judgment 
in  favor  of  St.  John.  In  those  cases,  moreover,  wherein  a  compari- 
son can  be  instituted,  the  account  given  by  St.  John  is  much  simpler 
than  that  in  the  Synoptics ;  and  bearing  in  mind  the  comparatively 
late  composition  of  the  Gospel,  this  tells  all  the  more  in  favor  of  the 
opinion  that  the  writer  was  himself  an  eye-witness  and  partici- 
pator." 2 

Robert  Browning  has  well  hit  this  nice  balance  in  John's  narrative 
between  the  faith  that  springs  from  love  and  the  faith  that  comes 
only  of  miracles. 

"  I  fed  the  babe  whether  it  would  or  no ; 
I  bid  the  boy  or  feed  himself  or  starve. 
I  cried  once,  '  That  ye  may  believe  in  Christ, 
Behold,  this  blind  man  shall  receive  his  sight  I' 
'  Repeat  that  miracle  and  take  my  faith  V 
I  say,  that  miracle  was  duly  wrought 
When,  save  for  it,  no  faith  was  possible. 
So  faith  grew,  making  void  more  miracles 
Because  too  much :  they  would  compel,  not  help. 
I  say,  the  acknowledgment  of  God  in  Christ 
Accepted  by  thy  reason,  solves  for  thee 

1  Introd.  \  79. 
2  See  the  account  of  the  walking  on  the  sea,  John  v.  15;  Matt.  xiv.  22; 
Mark  vi.  45 :  and  of  the  voice  from  heaven,  John  xii.  24. 


SOCRATES  AXD   CHRIST   COMrARED  AS   TEACHERS.    269 

All  questions  in  the  earth  and  out  of  it, 
And  ha?  so  far  advanced  thee  to  be  wise. l 

The  perfect  accord  between  the  doctrines  and  the  miracles — the 
•word  of  Jesus  and  His  works — in  the  fourth  Gospel,  and  the  natu- 
ralness with  which  they  supplement  each  other,  is  an  evidence  of  the 
historical  character  of  the  Gospel. 

The  question  of  style  in  this  Gospel  as  compared  with  the 
Synoptics  need  occasion  no  difficulty  when  we  reflect  how  the  same 
author  or  teacher  may  vary  his  style  for  different  hearers  or  objects. 
The  Synoptics  testify  that  Jesus  discoursed  with  His  disciples  in  a 
style  different  from  that  which  He  used  before  the  people.  2  "  It  is 
well  known,"  says  Bleek,  "how  widely  the  representations  differ 
that  are  given  us  of  the  person  and  teaching  of  Socrates  in  Plato  and 
Xenophon  respectively.  Some,  supposing  these  irreconcilable,  have 
held  Xenophon's  account  only  to  be  historically  true,  and  have  de- 
clared the  Platonic  Socrates  to  have  been  the  creation  of  Plato  him- 
self. The  narrowness  and  erroneousness  of  this  opinion  is  now 
acknowledged ;  for  if  Socrates  were  a  teacher  only,  as  Xenophon  de- 
scribes him,  if  he  was  not  also  the  speculatist  and  philosopher  that 
Plato  describes,  we  could  not  explain  how  so  many  schools  of  specu- 
lative philosophy  sprang  from  his  teaching  and  influence.  Both  de- 
scriptions of  Socrates  are  true,  and  are  only  different  aspects  of  one 
and  the  same  character.  Now,  if  a  wise  man,  who  was  merely 
human  like  Socrates,  could  thus  present  such  manifoldness  in  unity 
that  two  of  his  pupils  could  give  such  contrasted  yet  true  pictures 
of  his  teaching,  surely  the  same  is  possible  in  the  case  of  Christ — in 
the  case  of  Him  whose  office  and  work  was  to  be  the  Redeemer  of 
men  of  all  shades  of  character  and  life;  surely  in  His  person  and  life 
there  must  necessarily  have  been  a  far  richer  fullness."3 

The  prevailing  similarity  of  style  in  the  discourses  of  Jesus  and  the 
narrative  of  the  evangelist,  may  be  accounted  for  quite  naturally  by 
the  overmastering  influence  of  the  thought  of  Jesus  upon  the  mind 
of  the  susceptible  and  loving  John.  Such  unconscious  influence, 
where  there  is  neither  imitation  nor  invention,  is  by  no  means  un- 
common between  master  and  disciple. 

Indeed,  the  reporting  of  an  oral  discourse  may  depend  as  much  upon 
the  receptivity  of  the  hearer  as  upon  the  phraseology  of  the  speaker. 

1  A  Death  in  the  Desert — a  fictitious  representation  of  John  vindicating  his 
gospel  on  his  death-bed. 

2  Matt.  xiii.  10,  34.     Mark  i v.  11,  33,  34.     Luke  viii.  10. 
3  Introd.  I  70. 


270  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

Two  reporters  of  different  temperaments  and  different  degrees  of  cul- 
ture may  present  quite  different  phases  of  the  same  speech  ;  each 
correct  as  far  as  it  goes,  each  incomplete  as  an  embodiment  of  the 
thought  of  the  speaker,  yet  each  important  for  the  impression  it  will 
make  upon  its  own  circle  of  readers,  while  both  are  necessary  to  a 
philosophical  estimate  of  the  speaker  and  his  discourse.  John 
appears  to  have  fed  upon  certain  phases  of  Christ's  doctrine  till  these 
not  only  possessed  hi3  soul  as  a  personal  faith,  but  pervaded  his 
thought  and  style. 

"  Let  any  only  yield  himself,"  says  Neander,  "  to  the  impression 
of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  and  then  ask  himself  whether  it  be 
probable  that  a  mind  of  the  loftiness,  depth,  and  power  which  that 
discourse  evinces,  could  have  employed  only  one  mode  of  teaching  ? 
A  mind  which  swayed  not  only  simple  and  practical  souls,  but  also 
so  profoundly  speculative  an  intellect  as  that  of  Paul,  could  not  but 
have  scattered  the  elements  of  such  a  tendency  from  the  very  first. 
We  cannot  but  infer,  from  the  irresistible  power  which  Christianity 
exerted  upon  minds  so  diversely  constituted  and  cultivated,  that  the 
sources  of  that  power  lay  combined  in  Him  whose  self-revelation  was 
the  origin  of  Christianity  itself.  Moreover,  the  other  Gospels  are  not 
wanting  in  apparently  paradoxical  expressions  akin  to  the  peculiar 
tone  of  John's  Gospel,  i.  e.  Let  the  dead  bury  their  dead.  Nor  will 
the  attentive  observer  find  in  John  alone  expressions  of  Christ  in- 
tended to  increase,  instead  of  to  remove,  the  offence  which  carnal 
minds  took  at  His  doctrine. 

"Still  it  is  true,  that  such  passages  are  given  by  John  much  more 
abundantly  than  the  other  Evangelists.  But  there  is  nothing  in 
his  Gospel  purely  metaphysical  or  impractical ;  none  of  the  spirit  of 
the  Alexandrian- Jewish  theology ;  but  everywhere  a  direct  bearing 
upon  the  inner  life,  the  Divine  communion  which  Christ  came  to 
establish.  Its  form  would  have  been  altogether  different  had  it  been 
composed,  as  some  suppose  in  the  second  century,  to  support  the 
Alexandrian  doctrine  of  the  Logos,  as  will  be  plain  to  any  one  who 
takes  the  trouble  to  compare  it  with  the  writings  of  that  age  that 
have  come  down  to  us.  The  discourses  given  in  the  first  three  Gospels 
mostly  composed  of  separate  maxims,  precepts,  and  parables,  all  in 
the  popular  forms  of  speech,  were  better  fitted  to  be  handed  down 
by  tradition  than  the  more  profound  discussions  which  have  been 
recorded  by  the  beloved  disciple  who  hung  with  fond  affection  upon 
the  lips  of  Jesus,  treasured  His  revelations  in  a  congenial  mind,  and 
poured  them  forth  to  fill  up  the  gaps  of  the  popular  narrative.  And 
although  it  is  true  that  the  image  of  Christ  given  to  us  in  this  Gospel 


EXTERNAL   PROOFS   OF  GENUINENESS.  271 

is  the  reflection  of  Christ's  impression  upon  John's  peculiar  mind  and 
feelings,  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  these  very  peculiarities  were 
obtained  by  his  intercourse  with,  and  vivid  apprehension  of,  Christ 
himself.  His  susceptible  nature  appropriated  Christ's  life,  and  in- 
corporated it  with  His  own."  ' 

As  to  the  names  Son  of  Man  and  Son  of  God,  Neander  shows  that 
Christ  employed  these  antithetically  :  "  they  contain  correlative  ideas, 
and  cannot  be  thoroughly  understood  apart  from  their  reciprocal 
relation." 

The  fourth  Gospel  exhibits  throughout  intrinsic  evidences  of  being 
the  production  of  an  eye-witness.  The  minute  yet  unstudied  descrip- 
tion-of  persons,  places,  events,  the  natural  and  life-like  manner  in 
which  the  story  is  told,  are  marks  not  only  of  the  historical  character  of 
the  narrative,  but  also  of  the  interest  of  the  writer  in  all  that  he  nar- 
rates, as  a  matter  of  personal  testimony.  These  characteristics  are  very 
striking  in  the  account  of  the  closing  scenes  of  the  life  of  Jesus  : — the 
manner  of  the  disciples  when  Jesus  announced  at  the  Supper  that  one 
of  them  should  betray  Him :  the  fact  that  John,  being  "  known  unto 
the  high  priest"  went  into  his  palace,  while  Peter  remained  without, 
until  John  came  and  brought  him  in ;  the  circumstantiality  of  the 
details  about  the  weather,  the  fire,  and  what  was  transpiring  in  the 
judgment  hall  and  in  the  outer  court ;  these  are  marks  of  personal 
recollectiou.  The  same  characteristic  appears  in  the  account  of  the 
visit  of  Peter  and  John  to  the  Sepulcher.1 

V.    EXTERNAL   EVIDENCES. 

It  is  admitted  by  all  parties,  that  before  the  close  of  the  second 
century  the  fourth  Gospel  had  come  to  be  acknowledged  as  a  canonical 
work,  and  was  by  many  accepted  as  a  work  of  the  Apostle  John. 
Irenseus,  bishop  of  Lyons,  Clement  of  Alexandria,  Tertullian  of  pro- 
consular Africa,  and  Poly  crates  of  Ephesus  are  conclusive  witnesses 
to  this  fact.  Irena^us  argues  the  necessity  for  four  Gospels  from  the 
mystical  analogy  of  the  four  divisions  of  the  world,  the  foui  winds, 
the  four  cherubims:5  Clement  speaks  of  "the  four  Gospels  which 
have  been  handed  down  to  us;"4  Tertullian  enumerates  the  four;* 
Polycrates  names  John  as  "  he  who  leaned  upon  the  bosom  of  the 
Lord."  6  These  witnesses  prove  that  in  the  last  third  of  the  second 
century  the  fourth  Gospel  was  acknowledged  in  all  the  churches  aa 

*  Life  of  Jesus  Christ,  Am.  edition,  £  71. 

»  Prof.  Fisher  has  grouped  together  very  effectively  many  passages  in  John's 

Gospel  that  exhibit  "the  air  and  manner  of  an  eye-witness  and  participant  in 

the  scenes  recorded."     The  Supernatural  Origin  of  Christianity,  pp.  84-95. 

8  Hoer.  iii.  11.         *  Strom,  iii.  13.  5  Marcion,  iv.  2.  «  Eustbius,  r.  24. 


272  THE   THEOLOGY  OF   CHRIST. 

the  work  of  the  apostle  John.  Going  back  a  step  further  in  the 
literature  of  the  primitive  Church,  we  find  conclusive  evidence  of  the 
existence  of  the  fourth  Gospel  in  the  first  half  of  the  second  century. 
According  to  Hippolytus,  Valenlinus,  the  founder  of  a  Gnostic  sect, 
quoted  from  this  Gospel  as  the  saying  of  Christ,  "  All  that  came  be- 
fore Me  are  thieves  and  robbers  ;"  1  and  also  applied  to  Satan  the 
title  "  Prince  of  this  world."  Marcion  rejected  the  Gospel  of  John, 
a3  he  also  mutilated  Luke's  Gospel,  because  he  thought  it  inconsistent 
with  the  doctrines  of  Paul ; 2  but  his  rejection  of  it  as  not  favoring 
his  theological  scheme,  shows  that  it  was  already  current  in  the 
Church  as  the  work  of  the  apostle  John. 

We  are  indebted  to  Hippolytus  for  the  resuscitation  of  another 
witness — Basilides,3  a  Gnostic  leader  who  flourished  at  Alexandria 
in  tlie  fore  part  of  the  second  century.  In  his  discussions  Basilides 
says,  "  Thus  it  is  said  in  the  Gospel ;  This  was  the  true  light  that 
lighteth  every  man  that  cometh  into  the  world :"  4  and  again,  "  The 
Saviour  said,  My  hour  is  not  yet  come."  6  It  is  impossible  to  doubt 
that  Basilides  had  before  him  the  Gospel  of  John,  and  regarded  it  as 
of  apostolical  authority. 

A  yet  earlier  and  more  important  witness  is  Justin  Martyr,  who 
lived  between  A.  D.  89  and  160.  Justin  speaks  of  the  Gospels  col- 
lectively as  "  the  authoritative  memoirs  of  the  Apostles  ; "  he  declares 
that  Christ  was  "the  only-begotten  of  the  Father  of  all  things, 
being  properly  begotten  by  Him  as  His  Word  and  Power  " — a  con- 
ception apparently  founded  upon  John  ;  and  he  uses  the  language  of 
John's  Gospel,  with  only  such  slight  verbal  variations  as  would 
occur  in  quotations  from  memory.  In  particular  in  his  account  of 
baptism,  Justin  says, 6  "  For  indeed  Christ  also  said  :  '  Except  ye  be 
born  again,  ye  shall  not  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven.'  And 
that  it  is  impossible  for  those  who  are  once  born  to  enter  into  their 
mother's  womb,  is  plain  to  all."  Such  an  approximation  to  the  lan- 
guage of  John  can  hardly  be  accounted  for  by  a  current  tradition  of 
Christ's  conversation  with  Nicodemus ;  and,  moreover,  such  a  tradi- 
tion would  go  to  confirm  the  Gospel  narrative  as  a  history,  for  the 
Gospel  reports  with  a  matter-of-fact  particularity  the  interview  of 
the  Master  in  Israel  with  the  Teacher  come  from  God. 

VI.      CONCLUSION. 

The  whole  argument  is  well  summed  up  in  the  following  extracts 
from  Bleek  : 
i  Hippol.  vi.  35.         2  Tertullian,  adv.  Marcion  iv.  3.        s  Hippol.  vii.  22,  27. 
iJolini.  9.  BJehr-'L  4.  M»oZ.  i.  61. 


GENUINENESS   OF   JOHN  S   GOSPEL.  273 

"  We  have  now  to  consider  the  design  and  occasion  of  this  Gospel. 
The  former  John  himself  seems  to  tell  us  in  his  closing  words.  * 
What  he  here  declares  to  be  his  object  in  writing,  viz.,  to  further 
faith  in  Jesus  as  the  Christ  and  the  Son  of  God,  and  everlasting  life 
in  those  who  believe,  may,  as  thus  generally  stated,  be  regarded  as 
the  highest  object  of  the  other  evangelists,  and  indeed  of  all  Christian 
teachers  whether  writers  or  speakers.  But  it  is  one  thing  to  awaken 
faith,  another  to  confirm  and  guard  it  against  error  on  all  sides. 
Accordingly  the  authors  of  the  Gospels  might  have  different  points 
of  view,  and  give  to  their  works  a  correspondingly  different  form. 
Their  purpose  might  have  been  either  the  furtherance  of  faith  in  the 
Son   of  God — and  this  would  influence  them  more  or  less  in  their 

selection  of  facts,  and  in  the  characteristic  execution  of  their  task 

or  they  might  content  themselves  simply  with  the  trustworthy  re- 
lation of  occurrences  just  as  they  happened.  Among  the  Synoptics, 
the  latter  character  seems  to  belong  more  to  Luke  and  Mark,  the 
former  more  to  Matthew.  But  unquestionably  this  former  character 
belongs  in  a  far  higher  degree  to  John,  and  certainly  not  simply 
through  pointed  references  in  him  to  the  fulfilment  of  Old  Testament 
expressions  and  in  virtue  of  his  own  remarks  and  observations,  but 
also  through  his  selection  of  matter  for  record,  especially  such  as  the 
discourses  of  the  Lord,  which  refers  far  more  than  those  in  the  Syn- 
optics to  the  person  of  Jesus  as  the  Son  of  God  and  the  Messiah. 
More  than  any  other  of  the  evangelists  might  John  have  declared  it 
to  be  the  simple  purpose  of  his  writing,  that  his  readers  might  be- 
lieve Jesus  to  be  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God.  Still  it  would  be  a 
very  great  mistake  to  argue  from  this  manifest  intention  in  the  Gos- 
pel against  its  historical  reality  and  purpose,  and  to  speak  of  it  as 
purely  dogmatic  and  apologetic,  as  has  so  often  been  done  even  by 
the  latest  interpreters  and  critics.  So  far  is  this  from  the  truth,  that 
if  we  may  treat  any  one  of  our  Gospels  as  an  historical  work,  we  may 
emphatically  so  treat  the  Gospel  of  John.  In  the  statement  of 
external  facts,  John  is  frequently  more  exact  than  the  Synoptics. 
Not  less  is  his  account  of  events  recorded  by  himself  alone  distin- 
guished by  great  precision  and  clearness,  even  when  he  gives  promi- 
nence to  what  has  manifestly  no  direct  dogmatic  significance  ;  e.  g. 
the  conversation  with  the  Samaritan  woman,  the  healing  of  the 
man  born  blind  at  Jerusalem,  the  raising  of  Lazarus,  etc.  Espe- 
cially is  the  historical  character  of  his  Gospel  proved  by  the  clear- 
ness with  which   it  unfolds,  in  its  gradual  development,  the  catas- 

18  i  John  xx.  31. 


274  THE  THEOLOGY    OF    CHRIST. 

trophe  which  terminated  in  the  death  of  Jesus  the  Redeemer. 
Here  pre-eminently,  from  the  very  beginning  of  the  Lord's  public 
life  onwards,  care  is  taken  to  show  how  by  His  deeds  and  words  the 
Jewish  feeling  concerning  Him  was  formed,  alternating  for  a  long 
time  between  approval  and  dislike,  until  at  last  it  took  such  a  course 
as  to  give  up  even  eagerly  to  crucifixion  Him  on  whom  but  a  short 
time  before  it  had  joyfully  fixed  its  expectations. 

"  The  whole  Gospel  shows  us  how  the  popular  opinion  respecting 
Jesus  was  formed  ;  how,  for  a  long  time,  it  swung  between  approval 
and  dislike ;  how  the  people,  entirely  filled  with  the  Jewish  notions 
respecting  the  Messiah,  sometimes  thought  He  was  the  One  for 
whom  they  were  waiting,  and  then  again  became  determined  and 
bitter  against  Him  ;  how  the  Sanhedrim  resolved  to  make  away  with 
Him,  and  how  this  resolution  was  affected  by  a  real  or  pretended  fear 
of  the  Romans.  Especially  is  it  from  John  that  we  learn  how  it 
came  to  pass  (a)  that  the  people  greeted  Jesus  on  His  entrance  into 
Jerusalem  with  such  rejoicings,  (the  fact  itself  is  recorded  by  the 
Synoptics ;  but  it  is  only  in  this  Gospel  that  we  learn  its  motive,  in 
the  raising  of  Lazarus  shortly  before) ;  and  yet  (b)  that  their  feeling  so 
quickly  altered  respecting  Him,  through  the  discourse  following  the 
entry,  from  which  it  could  be  seen  how  little  He  thought  of  being  a 
Messiah  in  the  Jewish  sense  of  the  word.  This  change  of  feeling  is 
also  related  by  the  Synoptics,  but  not  so  as  to  show  very  clearly  how 
it  was  brought  about.  ' 

"  We  need  not  be  surprised .  at  finding  no  quotations  from  St. 
John's  Gospel  in  the  apostolic  fathers;  for  they  do  not  usually  make 
any  quotations  from  the  Gospels,  though  they  certainly  must  have 
known  them.  There  are  indeed  some  passages  which  seem  indi- 
rectly to  refer  to  sayings  in  our  Gospel,  but  we  cannot  affirm  this 

with  certainty My  conviction  is  that  an  unprejudiced 

consideration  of  the  external  testimonies  leads  to  the  certain  conclu- 
sion that  our  fourth  Gospel  was  recognized  as  a  trustworthy  author- 
ity, and  a  genuine  work,  in  the  various  churches  of  Christendom 
before  the  middle  of  the  second  century. 

"  It  must,  as  we  have  seen,  have  existed  and  been  known  in  the 
church  (a)  before  the  Easter  controversies ;  (b)  before  the  appear- 
ance of  the  Valentinian  Gnosis  in  Egypt  and  elsewhere;  (c)  before  the 
rise  of  Montanism  in  Asia  Minor  ;  (c?)  before  the  time  of  Marcion 
himself.  The  position  which  the  contending  parties  in  all  these  con- 
troversies allowed  to  our  Gospel,  can  be  historically  explained  only 

i  Bleek,  Int.  \  115. 


VAN  OOSTERZEE'S  NEW  TESTAMENT  THEOLOGY.     2  <  9 

upon  the  supposition  that  it  was  known  and  recognized  in  the 
Church  at  large  some  decades  of  years  before  the  middle  of  the  Becond 
century,  if  not  from  the  very  beginning  of  it ;  and  this  fact,  in  turn, 
can  only  be  explained  upon  the  supposition  that  it  is  a  genuine  and 
apostolic  work.  Whatever  may  be  difficult  and  strange  in  the  his- 
tory of  this  Gospel  in  the  Church,  in  its  contents  or  in  its  exposition, 
is  only  of  such  a  nature  as  to  become  tenfold  more  difficult  and  more 
strange  upon  the  supposition  of  a  later  and  non-apostolic  author- 
ship. Our  investigation  has  confirmed  us  in  the  steadfast  conviction, 
which  is  irresistibly  urged  upon  us  ever  and  anon  from  different  con- 
siderations, that  this  fourth  Gospel  is  really  the  work  of  St.  John,  the 
trusted  and  beloved  disciple  of  the  Lord."  l 


APPENDIX  II. 

DR.   J.   J.   VAN    OOSTEEZEE'S   THEOLOGY   OF   THE   NEW   TESTAMENT. 

The  most  judicious  and  satisfactory  treatise  that  has  yet  appeared 
in  the  recent  science  of  Biblical  Theology,  is  the  Manual  of  the  The- 
ology of  the  New  Testament  by  Dr.  Van  Oosterzee,  Professor  in  the 
University  of  Utrecht,  Holland.  This  was  first  published  in  Dutch 
in  1867,  and  a  second  edition  appeared  in  1869.  A  German  trans- 
lation, made  under  the  author's  sanction,  was  published  at  Barmen 
in  1868 ; 2  a  full  account  of  the  work,  with  a  translation  of  several 
sections  appeared  in  the  American  Presbyterian  Review  for  July, 
1870 ;  3  and  a  translation  of  the  entire  work  is  in  course  of  publication 
in  the  Theological  Eclectic. 4  This  translation,  by  Prof.  George  E. 
Day,  D.  D.,  is  made  directly  from  the  Dutch,  and  promises  to  be 
both  precise  and  elegant ;  when  completed,  it  will  be  published  as  a 
distinct  volume,  and  will  form  a  useful  text-book  for  Bible-classes. 

For  convenience  of  reference  I  have  here  compiled  from  the  Ger- 
man edition  an  abstract  of  that  portion  of  Van  Oosterzees  work 
which  treats  specificially  of  the  Theology  of  Christ, 
i  Bleek,  Intro.  \  89. 

»  Die  Thenlogie  dea   Nenen    Testament*.     Ein   Hand-buch  fur  acadrmische 
Vorlesungen  und  zum  Selbst-studium.     Von  J.  J.  Van  Osterzee.     pp.  2<»S. 

*  Vol.  ii.  New  Series,  pp.  431-459.  *  Published  by  Judd  &  White.  New 

Haven. 


276  THE   THEOLOGY    OF    CHRIST. 

Section  first,  in  the  form  of  an  introduction,  defines  the  Biblical 
Theology  of  the  New  Testament  as  a  science,  carefully  distinguishing 
it  from  Christian  Dogmatics.  The  latter  inquires,  not  only  what  the 
Christian  Church  in  general  or  any  one  of  its  branches  confesses  as 
truth,  but  above  all,  what  within  the  domain  of  Christian  faith  one 
really  should  or  should  not  hold  as  truth.  The  former,  on 
the  contrary,  asks  only  what  is  set  forth  as  truth  by  the  writers  of 
the  New  Testament.  From  its  point  of  view,  it  has  to  do,  not  with 
the  correctness,  but  only  with  the  import  of  the  ideas  which  it  finds 
in  the  teachings  of  Jesus  and  the  Apostles.  Elle  ne  ddmontre  pas, 
ette  raconte.  As  for  the  exegete,  so  for  the  Biblical  theologian,  the 
main  question  is,  How  readest  thou  ? 

§  2,  treats  of  the  history  of  this  science,  showing  that  it  arose  at  a 
comparatively  recent  period — largely  under  the  impulse  of  rational- 
istic investigation — and  is  "distinctively  Protestant"  in  its  origin  and 
methods  of  inquiry,  making  the  Bible  its  sole  text-book  and 
authority. 

\  3,  points  out  the  method  to  be  pursued  in  this  study.  The  The- 
ology of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  must  be  distinguished  from  that  of 
the  Apostolic  writers,  and  the  former  discussed  before  the  latter. 
Here,  too,  the  difference  between  the  sayings  of  the  Lord  in  the  Syn- 
optics and  in  the  fourth  Gospel  comes  before  us.  The  apostolic 
■writings  should  receive  a  like  discriminating  treatment — bringing 
out  in  succession  the  theology  of  Peter,  of  Paul,  and  of  John.  And, 
moreover,  since  the  doctrine  of  Christ  and  His  apostles  grew  like  a  plant 
out  of  the  soil  of  the  Old  Testament,  as  a  preparation  for  understand- 
ing that  doctrine,  we  must  acquaint  ourselves  with  the  religion  out 
of  which  Christianity  sprang,  with  the  expectations  which  it  realized, 
and  with  the  condition,  the  ideas  and  the  wants  of  the  age  in  which 
Christ  and  His  apostles  lived.  These  points,  Mbsaism.  Prophetism, 
and  Judaism,  as  distinguished  from  the  earlier  Hebraism,  Dr. 
Oosterzee  groups  together  under  the  name  of  "  Old  Testament  foun- 
dation." 

The  treatise  proper  opens  with  a  chapter  on  this  "  Old  Testament 
Foundation,"  under  which  \  4  treats  of  Mosaism — the  religious-po- 
litical constitution »  for  which  the  people  of  Israel  were  indebted  to 
Moses ;  its  foundation,  a  special  revelation,  its  character  monothe- 

1  "  Die  reh'fj>'os-2)ol!tische  Einrichtung ; "  a  constitution  which  did  not  simply 
combine  within  itself  ecclesiastical  and  civil  institutions,  but  in  which  the  re- 
ligious idea  was  the  key  of  the  civil  polity,  and  the  whole  political  structure 
was  based  upon  religious  truths  and  erected  for  a  religious  end : — not  "  re- 
ligious and  civil,"  but  "  religious-political." 


OLD  TESTAMENT  FOUNDATIONS  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  277 

istic,  its  form  theocratic,  its  worship  symbol ico- typical,  its  tendency 
purely  moral,  its  standpoint  that  of  external  authority — though  at 
the  same  time  it  is  thoroughly  conscious  that  it  is  a  preparation  for 
a  higher  development.  Blending  the  religious  and  the  ethical,  the 
Mosaic  economy  is  founded  not  in  legalism  but  in  morality ;  the  ab- 
solute holiness  of  the  king  is  the  ideal  of  the  subject ;  the  love  of 
Jehovah  is  ever  in  the  foreground,  and  religion  is  most  intimately 
united  with  the  life.  Yet  the  law  could  not  itself  produce  the 
holiness  that  it  required. 

Prophetism,  \  5,  which  can  as  little  be  accounted  for  on  the  ration- 
alistic theory  as  on  that  of  magic,  was  both  the  support  and  the  ful- 
fillment of  the  earlier  revelation.  It  built  the  way  for  the  Gospel  of 
the  New  Testament,  exerted  an  important  influence  upon  the  matter 
and  form  of  its  preaching,  and  exalted  its  high  worth  above  all  reason- 
able doubt.  It  insisted  upon  the  spiritual  nature  of  the  law  and  the 
necessity  of  spiritual  consecration  ;  it  proclaimed  the  universality  of 
the  kingdom  of  God,  a  golden  age  upon  earth,  and  the  resurrection 
and  the  judgment  after  death.  By  upholding  Monotheism,  by  quick- 
ening and  sharpening  the  sense  of  sin,  and  thus  awakening  the  long- 
ing for  redemption,  by  setting  over  against  the  terrors  of  the  law  the 
consolation  of  promise  and  hope,  it  prepared  the  way  for  the  Gospel. 

Judaism,  §  6,  describes  the  moral  and  religious  state  of  the  Israel- 
ites after  the  Babylonian  captivity— a  state  of  degeneracy  from  the 
original  Hebraism,  when  speculation,  legalism,  and  formalism  had 
supplanted  the  early  enthusiasm  for  spiritual  truth.  Although  in 
this  period  there  was  a  general  expectation  of  the  Messiah,  yet  there 
was  nothing  in  Judaism  from  which  the  personal  character  of  Christ 
or  the  matter  of  His  Gospel  could  have  been  developed. 

Part  Second  brings  us  directly  to  the  Theology  of  Jesus  Christ  :— 
the  essence  of  the  doctrine  of  God  and  divine  things  as  given  by 
Christ  during  His  earthly  life.  While  Jesus  drew  much  from  nature 
and  from  the  Old  Testament,  His  personality,  more  than  anything 
else,  was  the  source  of  His  doctrine,  and  determined  both  the  form 
and  the  matter  of  His  teaching.  The  remainder  of  this  chapter, 
from  1 10  to  \  17,  is  devoted  to  the  conception  of  the  Kincdom  of 
God  as  found  in  the  Synoptical  Gospels.  The  several  topics  are,  the 
kingdom  itself,  its  founder,  the  King  of  kings,  the  subjects  of  the 
kingdom,  salvation,  the  way  of  salvation,  the  consummation. 

I  10,  on  the  Kingdom,  has  already  been  given  in  the  note  on  p.  30. 
The  founder  of  this  kingdom  Dr.  van  Oosterzee  regards  as  none  other 


278  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

than  Christ  Himself, 1  who  even  in  the  Synoptical  Gospels,  appears 
as  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God,  and  as  such  is  not  only  a 
true  and  spotless  man,  but  is  also  a  partaker  of  a  super-human 
nature  and  dignity  which  no  creature  in  heaven  or  earth  can  lay 
claim  to.  At  the  same  time,  \  12,  He  proclaims  the  Father  as  the 
only  true,  the  personally  living  and  continually  acting  God,  who  re- 
veals Himself  especially  through  the  Son  to  men,  and  through  the 
Holy  Spirit  produces  in  them  every  really  good  thing. 

§13.  Men  only  are  the  proper  subjects  of  this  kingdom — the  holy 
angels  being  its  servants,  and  the  spirits  of  darkness  its  enemies. 
Christ  teaches  the  personality  of  Satan,  the  Evil  one,  assumes  the 
universality  of  sin  in  the  hearts  of  men,  and  sets  forth  the  guilt  and 
ruin  of  the  transgressor. 

\  14.  Salvation  consists  in  the  enjoyment  of  temporal  and  spiritual 
blessings,  which  begins  here,  and  shall  be  perfected  in  the  hereafter. 
The  earthly  appearing,  the  active  life,  the  redemptive  death  and  the 
heavenly  glory  of  Jesus  Christ,  together  had  this  distinct  purpose — 
to  bring  this  salvation  to  all. 

$  15.  Though  all  are  invited  to  the  salvation  of  the  kingdom  of 
God,  yet  sinners  can  partake  of  it  only  through  repentance,  faith,  and 
a  renewal  of  heart  which  manifests  itself  in  the  rectitude  of  the  whole 
life.  All  who  enter  upon  this  way  constitute  together  a  spiritual 
community,  which  on  account  of  its  peculiar  constitution,  but  above 
all  on  account  of  its  character  and  tendency  is  high  above  every 
other,  and  shall  extend  and  endure  till  the  end  of  the  world. 

\  16.  Then  shall  come  the  consummation.  The  salvation  of  the 
subjects  of  the  kingdom  of  God  survives  their  death,  but  will  first 
reach  its  consummation  at  the  Advent  of  the  Lord,  at  which  the 
glory  of  the  King  shall  be  manifested,  and  those  of  His  subjects  who 
have  been  found  faithful  shall  be  rewarded  with  the  full  rewards  of 
grace.  This  Advent  will  be  ushered  in  by  impressive  signs,  accom- 
panied with  stupendous  changes  in  the  cosmical  and  moral  spheres, 

1  That  Christ  did  not  really  found  the  kingdom  of  God,  but  revived  the 
normal  conception  of  that  kingdom  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  filled  out  the 
prophetic  ideal,  I  have  already  shown  at  p.  31.  This  view  of  the  original 
spirituality  of  the  Old  Testament  kingdom  is  essential  to  a  true  understanding 
of  the  preaching  of  Christ.  The  apostasy  of  the  Jews  from  their  primitive 
Theocracy,  and  their  glorification  of  the  forms  of  the  law  in  place  of  the  spirit 
of  allegiance,  rendered  necessary  the  removal  of  their  system,  in  order  to  the 
re-establishment  and  glorification  of  the  true  Theocracy.  "  The  kingdom  of 
God."  says  Neander,  "could  not  be  founded  from  without.  It  needed  first  a 
proper  material ;  and  this  could  not  bo  found  in  human  nature,  estranged  from 
God  by  sin." 


THE    THEOLOGY   OF    JOHN'S   GOSPEL.  279 

and  followed  by  the   definitive  separation  of  the  good  and  the  bad 
which  shall  put  an  irrevocable  end  to  the  present  state  of  things. 

Thus  far  the  elements  of  the  Theology  of  Christ  as  given  in  the 
Synoptical  Gospels.  His  words  in  the  fourth  Gospel  exhibit  a  char- 
acter so  entirely  peculiar,  as  to  require  a  separate  treatment.  It  is 
important  also  to  distinguish  as  far  as  possible  the  utterances  of  the 
Johannean  Christ  from  those  of  the  Christian  John.  Here,  in  the 
words  of  Christ  Himself,  we  move  in  quite  another  sphere  of  thought. 
In  the  Synoptics  it  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven  that  is  prominent, 
here  the  King  Himself;  there,  the  human,  here  the  divine  side  of  the 
Person  of  the  Redeemer;  there,  the  blessedness  of  redemption  beyond 
the  grave,  here,  upon  this  side  of  the  grave.  This  is  the  theme  of 
1 17,  which  opens  the  second  part  of  the  Theology  of  Christ. 

\  18,  treats  of  the  Sou  of  God  in  the  flesh  The  self  consciousness 
which  utters  itself  in  the  fourth  Gospel  is  that  of  the  only  Son  of  God 
who  appears  as  true  and  sinless  man,  to  be  the  Messiah  of  Israel 
and  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  but  who  at  the  same  time,  durin^  His 
stay  on  earth,  stands  personally  in  a  relation  to  heaven  altogether 
peculiar. 

|  19.  As  the  Son  of  God  the  Lord  declared  that  He  was  from 
eternity,  was  the  constant  object  of  the  love  of  the  Father,  and  the 
sharer  of  His  nature,  majesty  and  power,  who  had  in  the  Father  the 
ground  and  the  end  of  His  life,  who  revealed  His  name  in  the  fullest 
degree,  and  by  consequence  could  lay  claim  to  a  homage  and  dignity 
which  could  not  be  accorded  to  a  creature  without  blasphemy 

I  20.  The  name  of  the  Father  was  revealed  by  the  Son  to  a  world 
which  through  sin  and  the  powers  of  evil  was  under  the  dominion  of 
darkness,  but  which  received  from  God  in  Christ  new  light  and  life. 
He  imparted  this  light  and  life  through  His  coming  and  all  His 
works,  but  especially  through  His  sufferings  and  death.  Yet  in 
order  personally  to  enjoy  their  benefits,  a  heart-faith  is  indispensable, 
and  this  though  required  upon  sufficient  grounds,  nevertheless  for 
moral  reasons  will  by  no  means  be  found  in  all. 

\  21.  They  who  are  given  to  the  Son  by  the  Father,  and  by  con- 
sequence have  come  to  the  Father  through  the  Son,  are  united  with 
the  Son,  and  through  Him  with  one  another  in  a  living  Commuuion, 
whose  peculiar  character  can  be  understood  only  by  means  of  a 
spiritual  experience,  and  whose  benign  effects  are  manifested  in  the 
whole  course  of  their  inner  and  outer  life. 

\  22.  That  eternal  life,  which  already  here  is  a  fruit  of  personal 
abiding  fellowship  with  Christ,  survives  death  and  passes  over  into 
unending  felicity.     Also  according  to  the  Johannean  Christ  we  must 


280  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHEIST. 

look  for  a  resurrection  of  the  dead,  a  general  judgment,  and  an 
irrevocable  separation  at  the  last  day.  The  discussion  of  these  rela- 
tions of  the  Son  of  God  to  the  Father,  to  the  world,  to  His  Disciples, 
and  to  the  Future,  completes  the  second  division  of  Van  Oosterzee's 
treatise  on  the  Theology  of  Christ. 

The  third  part  considers  the  apparent  differences  between  the 
Synoptics  and  John's  Gospel,  in  their  reports  of  Christ's  teachings, 
as  really  conducting  to  a  higher  unity.  His  doctrine  is  communicated 
by  the  four  evangelists  in  an  harmonious  many-sidedness,  and  is  on 
the  one  hand  the  unfolding,  amplification  and  fulfilment  of  the  word 
of  God  spoken  by  Moses  and  the  prophets,  and  on  the  other  the  foun- 
dation and  starting  point  of  a  series  of  Apostolic  declarations  in  re- 
spect to  the  way  of  salvation,  which  under  various  modifications,  in 
turn  embody,  interpret  and  strengthen  the  doctrine  of  Christ. 

The  Petrine,  Pauline,  and  Johannean  theologies  are  severally  dis- 
cussed, and  the  work  closes  with  a  chapter  upon  the  agreement  of 
the  apostles  with  one  another,  the  agreement  of  the  apostles  with 
their  Lord,  and  the  agreement  of  Christ  and  His  apostles  with  the 
writings  of  the  Old  Testament. 


APPENDIX  III. 

DR.  WEISS   ON   FUTURE    PUNISHMENT. 

For  a  full  discussion  of  the  questions  of  the  annihilation  of  the 
wicked,  the  final  restoration  of  all  mankind,  and  the  adjustment  of 
eternal  punishment  with  the  equity  and  the  goodness  of  God,  the 
reader  is  referred  to  the  author's  volume  "  Love  and  Penalty." 

The  statement  of  Christ's  doctrine  of  hell  and  eternal  perdition 
given  by  Dr.  Weiss  in  his  Compendium  of  New  Testament  Theology 
is  so  clear,  condensed,  and  in  the  main  so  exact— though  I  dis- 
sent from  his  opinion  that  there  will  be  no  resurrection  for  the 
wicked — that  the  entire  section  is  here  translated  for  the  benefit  of 
readers  who  may  not  have  access  to  the  original,  a.  "  According  to 
the  Orthodox-Jewish  view  (that  of  the  Pharisees)  retributive  punish- 
ment began  immediately  upon  the  death  of  the  individual,  when  the 
soul  entered  into  Sheol  (Hades).  In  the  oldest. Gospel  Hades  is  men- 
tioned, Matt.  xvi.  18,  and  its  ''Gates"  serve  for  a  popular  symbol  of 


THE   MEANING   OF   "DESTRUCTION."  281 

that  which  is  most  firmly  closed,  since  the  kingdom  of  the  dead  lets 
out  again  no  one  whom  it  has  once  swallowed  up  :  and  in  Matt.  xi. 
23,  where  in  opposition  to  heaven  as  the  highest,  Hades  is  repre- 
sented as  the  lowest.  In  the  parable  given  in  Luke  xvi.  19-31,  is 
brought  out  the  idea  of  the  diverse  fates  of  souls  in  Sheol.  The  rich 
man  and  Lazarus  find  themselves  in  Hades  (ver.  23)  but  the  one  in  a 
place  of  torment  (vers.  23,  28)  where  he  is  tortured  by  the  greatest 
heat  of  burning  thirst  (ver.  24),  the  other,  on  the  contrary,  rests  in 
Abraham's  bosom  (vers.  22,  23)  and  enjoys  a  blessedness  which  causes 
him  to  forget  all  the  misery  of  earth  (ver.  25).  The  places  of  their 
several  abodes  are  divided  by  an  insurmountable  gulf  (ver.  26.)  The 
abode  of  the  righteous  in  Hades  is  called  Paradise,  (Luke  xxiii.  43.) 
That  the  robber  shall  be  there  with  Jesus  is  the  token  of  his  forgive- 
ness. There  is  also  already  in  Sheol  a  retribution  for  the  soul,  which 
however,  does  not  exclude  a  final  decision  upon  its  definitive  fate. 

b.  The  Messianic  judgment  decrees  eternal  punishment  which 
forms  the  antithesis  to  eternal  life.  (Matt.  xxv.  46).  In  this  anti- 
thesis it  is  undoubtedly  implied,  that  this  punishment  consists  in  the 
privation  of  eternal  life,  and  this  is  identical  with  "destruction:" 
since  the  narrow  way  that  leads  to  life  stands  in  contrast  to  the  way 
that  leads  to  destruction  (Matt.  vii.  13  air6faia).  The  verb  lying  at 
the  root  of  this  word  most  commonly  signifies  a  violent  killing  (Matt. 
xxi.  41,  xxii.  7,  also  ii.  13,  xxvi.  52,  xxvii.  20),  or  perishing  in  a  sudden 
and  unnatural  manner  (Luke  xiii.  3,  5.  Mark  iv.  38).  But  such 
an  end  is  in  itself  a  judgment  of  God  (Luke  xvii.  27,  29),  and  so  the 
judicial  punishment  upon  the  impenitent  nation  could  be  represented 
as  a  destruction  in  this  sense  (Luke  xiii.  3,  5),  especially  since  this  is 
commonly  conceived  of  as  destruction  through  the  hand  of  an  enemy 
(Matt.  xxiv.  15-22).  Likewise  the  judgment  upon  the  world  living 
in  carnal  security,  according  to  the  analogy  of  the  flood,  is  represented 
as  a  sudden  destruction,  which  in  the  end  of  the  world  bursts  forth  uoon 
all  who  were  not  delivered  from  it.  Evidently  also  "destruction" 
is  frr-quently  represented  as  bodily  death,  especially  under  some  vio- 
lent and  unnatural  form  in  which  the  divine  judgment  executes  itself 
upon  sin.  But  physical  death  only  separates  the  soul  from  the  body 
without  pronouncing  upon  its  definite  fate.  Since  Jesus  spake  of  the 
salvation  of  souls,  there  must  be  a  destruction  that  falls  upon  disem- 
bodied spirits,  and  this  must  either  be  some  definite  destruction  or 
destruction  simply.  This  destruction  the  incorporeal  demons  feared 
(Mark  i.  24)  and  according  to  Matthew  x.  28,  it  is  not  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  body  but  that  of  the  soul  that  is  to  be  feared.  (Compare 
Matt.  x.  39  and  Mark  viii.  36,  37.)     To  this  destruction  were  the 


282  THE   THEOLOGY   OF   CHRIST. 

whole  people  liable  on  account  of  their  sins,  inasmuch  as  the  Messiah 
came  to  deliver  them.  But  only  the  elect  should  be  delivered  from  it 
(Matt  xxiv.  22,  x.  22,  Mark  x.  26,  Luke  xiii.  23)  while  their  souls, 
(after  the  destruction  of  their  earthly  corporeity)  through  being  re- 
clothed  with  the  body,  would  be  conducted  to  the  true  eternal  life. 

c.  According  to  a  frequent  mode  of  representation  those  who  are 
shut  out  from  the  kingdom  of  God  in  its  heavenly  perfection  find 
themselves  in  Hell  (Mark  ix.  47  :  ytewa)  —  the  name  of  a  valley  south 
of  Jerusalem,  where  once  the  idolatrous  Israelites  offered  their 
children  to  Moloch  (Jer.  vii.  31 :  Mrr«  ^j  2  Kings  xxiii.  10,)  and 
as  the  judgment  of  God  would  break  forth  upon  this  horror  (Jer.  vii. 
32,  33)  this  was  transformed  into  a  symbol  of  the  place  where  destruc- 
tion would  overtake  those  who  should  be  condemned  in  the  last 
judgment  (Mat.  x.  28) :  hence  this  judgment  is  called  n  x-piaiq  r?jg  yeh- 
vrjg  (Mat.  xxiii.  15,  33).  Yet  one  may  not  conclude  from  Mat.  v.  29, 
30,  and  x.  28,  that  the  wicked  shall  be  raised,  to  suffer  the  pains  of 
hell  in  their  restored  bodies.  Bather  do  such  utterances  sufficiently 
explain  themselves  in  this,  that  at  the  second  coming  of  the  Messiah 
to  hold  the  final  judgment  this  will  overtake  the  current  generation 
while  yet  in  the  flesh.  Certainly  the  sinners  of  ancient  times  shall 
receive  their  definitive  sentence  at  the  Messianic  judgment  (Mat.  xi. 
22,  24.  Luke  x.  12,  14).  But  though  their  souls  are  in  Sheol,  and  the 
question  concerns  the  fate  of  their  souls  under  this  final  judgment,  it 
by  no  means  follows  from  this  that  there  will  be  a  resurrection  of 
such.  This  of  the  kind  described  in  Mark  xii.  25,  can  be  had  in  view 
only  for  the  pious.  Undoubtedly  Hell  is  described  as  a  place  of  fire 
(Mat.  v.  22),  and  its  fire  is  explicitly  called  eternal  (Mat.  xxv.  41, 
Mark  ix.  43),  which  Mark  (ix.  48  following  Isaiah  lxvi.  24)  explains 
to  the  effect  that  their  worm  dieth  not  and  their  fire  is  not  quenched. 
But  it  is  by  no  means  meant  by  this  that  sensible  torments  shall 
afflict  the  bodies  of  the  wicked  raised  from  the  dead.  Rather  is  the 
fire  a  symbol  of  the  judicial  wrath  of  God  [Mat.  iii.  11]  whose  terrors 
were  thus  depicted ;  for  the  end  of  sinners  is  more  dreadful  than  the 
most  dreadful  death  (Mat.  xviii.  6.  Luke  xvii.  2) — it  were  better 
for  them  had  they  never  been  born,  (Mark  xiv.  21.)  Should  a  real 
fire  be  conceived  of,  that  would  call  for  eternal  bodily  torment,  while 
it  would  burn  without  consuming;  and  this  would  make  an  obvious 
contradiction,  since  elsewhere  those  who  are  shut  out  of  the  kingdom 
of  God  are  said  to  be  thrust  out  into  darkness  (Mat.  viii.  12).  But 
this  darkness  again,  upon  the  basis  of  Old  Testament  imagery,  is  only 
a  common  symbol  of  evil  and  terror.  '(Job  xxx.  26.  Is.  v.  20.  viii. 
22.  ix.  2.  1.  10).    This  much  therefore  lies  in  both  images — that  the 


NO   RESURRECTION    FOR   TIIK    WICKED.  283 

condemned  will  suffer  a  fate  of  whose  terrors  they  are  by  no  means 
unconscious— rather  will  they  suffer  this  with  wailing  and  gnashing 
of  teeth,  (Mat.  viii.  12).  The  subject  of  this  experience,  however, 
may  properly  be  conceived  of  as  the  disembodied  soul,  inasmuch  as 
the  incorporeal  demons  feared  these  torments  (Mat.  viii.  29)  and  the 
dead  in  Sheol  experience  both  pain  and  happiness. 

(d.)  These  two  representations  of  the  endless  fate  of  the  con- 
demned (see  in  b.  and  c.)  accord  perfectly  together.  The  destruction 
of  the  soul,  indeed,  (see  b.)  might  be  conceived  of  in  itself  as  a  com- 
plete annihilation ;  but  then  it  would  not  have  been  better  for  the 
condemned  never  to  have  been  born.  (Mark  xiv.  21,  note  c.)  This 
destruction  consists  rather  in  this— that  the  soul  which,  separated 
from  the  body,  tarries  in  Sheol  until  the  final  Judgment,  after  by  that 
judgment  upon  itself  it  is  deprived  of  all  prospect  of  an  awakening  to 
true  life  (through  the  Kesurrection,  which  awaits  the  godly  alone) 
remains  forever  in  the  bodiless  and  therefore  shadowy  condition  in 
which  physical  death  placed  it.  The  duration  of  the  soul  as  such, 
according  to  this  conception  is  no  happiness,  but  involves  eternal 
punishment,  inasmuch  as  the  disembodied  state  of  the  soul,  which 
was  before  dreaded  as  a  transition  state,  when  definitely  apprehended 
concludes  within  itself  the  greatest  unhappiness.  The  destruction  of 
the  soul,  which  in  this  condition  is  forever  precluded  from  the  true 
life  (which  cannot  be  conceived  of  apart  from  corporeity)  may  there- 
fore be  signified  by  the  same  word  as  the  separating  of  the  soul  from 
the  body  by  corporeal  death  (see  b.),  because  this,  when  it  comes  upon 
the  wicked  in  the  day  of  judgment — at  which  the  pious  dead  shall 
be  separated  from  them  by  the  resurrection — involves  their  condem- 
nation to  remain  in  death,  that  is  in  the  bodiless  condition  of  the 
soul.  But  this  bodiless  state  by  no  means  excludes  the  lasting  con- 
sciousness of  its  unhappiness,  since  the  soul  as  such  is  and  remains 
sensitive,  (see  c).  The  fire  of  hell  therefore  cannot  signify  complete 
annihilation,  for  these  reasons : — that  the  fire  itself  cannot  be  regarded 
as  material  is  obvious  from  the  representation  that  it  is  an  eternal 
fire,  (Mat.  xxv.  41,  Mark  ix.  43,  48);  that  it  cannot. consume  the 
subject  of  the  punishment,  since  then  it  would  cea3e  to  burn.  The 
eternity  of  punishment  in  hell  in  this  sense  is  the  correlative  of  the 
statement  that  the  decision  in  the  Messianic  judgment  is  definitive. 
It  comes  also  undoubtedly  as  a  logical  consequence  of  the  doctrinal 
teaching  of  Christ,  for  where  there  is  one  sin  which  can  never  be 
forgiven,  (Mat.  xii.  32)  there  must  also  be  an  eternal  punishment."1 
1  Lehrluch  der  Billischen  Theoloyie  dea  Neucn  Testavients,  §  38. 


284  THE    THEOLOGY   OF    CHRIST. 


APPENDIX  IV. 

THE   INTERMEDIATE    STATE. 

Dr.  Delitzsch,  in  his  System  of  Biblical  Psychology — a  work  which, 
in  its  English  dress,1  fully  justifies  De  Quincey's  complaint  of  "the 
barbarous  effect  produced  by  a  German  structure  of  sentence,  and  a 
terminology  altogether  new " — regards  the  descent  of  Christ  into 
Hades  as  a  turning-point  in  the  condition  of  the  righteous  dead,  both 
past  and  to  come.  "  He  appeared  in  the  world  of  the  dead  as  a  spirit, 
while  His  incorruptible  but  not  yet  glorified  and  risen  body  was  at 
rest  in  the  grave  ;  but  He  appeared  none  the  less  in  the  undissolved 
unity  of  His  divine-human  person  as  the  Prince  of  Life  breaking 
through  the  bands  of  Hades  and  the  grave. 

"  Thus  manifesting  Himself  to  the  dead  in  Hades,  He  preached  to 
them  {etcfipvl-Ev)  the  victory  that  had  now  come  to  pass.  He  preached 
to  the  Old  Testament  dead  the  New  Testament  gospel  (venpolg  evtfyye- 
liodv)  of  the  now  completed  redemption  (1  Pet.  iii.  19,  iv.  6.).  There 
the  fallen  angelic  powers  beheld  Him  as  the  Conqueror;  the  Old 
Testament  saints,  as  the  Kedeemer;  those  who  had  died  in  the  attitude 
of  hardening  themselves,  as  the  Judge ;  and  for  many  who,  as  in  the 
judgment  of  the  deluge,  had  been  swallowed  up  by  Hades  in  very 
unequal  measure  of  sin,  there  were  glimpses  of  deliverance  still  pos- 
sible. There  also  the  soul  of  the  penitent  thief  beheld  Him  in  the 
bliss  of  Paradise. 

"  Then  ascending  outof  Hades,  arising  out  of  the  grave,  and  rising 
towards  heaven,  the  Lord  led  captivity  captive  {ijxftaA^)TevaEV  a'iXI-La- 
luoiav):  the  gifts  which  the  Exalted  One  sends  down,  are  the 
fruits  of  His  victory ;  and,  as  it  were,  benefactions  out  of  the  spoils 
of  a  triumphant  victor  (Eph.  iv.  8).  For  He  has  triumphed  over 
the  angelic  powers  (Col.  ii.  15);  and  when  He  had  subjected  to  Him- 
self the  spirits  that  rule  in  the  kingdom  of  death  and  of  darkness, 
He  led  the  men  who  in  Hades  honored  Him  as  a  redeemer  with 
Himself  toward  heaven  (Mat.  xxvii.  51-53)  and  from  that  time  forth 
the  Paradise  is  above  the  earth  (2  Cor.  xii.  1-4). 2 

1  Translated  for  Clark's  Foreign  Theological  Library,  1S67,  by  Rev.  Robert 
E.  Wallis,  Ph.  D. 

2  This  descent  into  Hades  is  the  subject  of  a  bold  and  effective  picture  by 
Bronzino,  in  the  Ufjlzi  at  Florence.  The  style  is  hard  and  mannered,  but  the 
moral  impression  is  powerful.  Christ,  the  central  figure,  is  preaching  deliver- 
ance to  these  imprisoned   souls.     The  devils  shrink  back  affrighted.     Somo-.r 


RELATIONS    OF    BODY,    SOUL,    AND    SPIRIT.  2S5 

"  The  hope  that  the  souls  of  the  righteous  are  in  God's  hand,  and 
in  the  enjoyment  of  rest  and  peace,  has  now  its  heavenly  seal :  the 
curtain  is  rent,  and  the  new  and  living  way  is  opened,  on  which 
henceforth  all  the  faithful  follow  their  Redeemer,  without  beni"  com- 
pelled to  pass  further  through  any  veil]  to  the  place  where  God's 
loving  presence  is  revealed  in  glory  (Ileb.  x.  19).  Thither  look  the 
eyes  of  the  dying :  thither,  when  their  eyes  fail  them,  their  hands  still 
point;  there  they  are  in  the  presence  of  their  risen  and  glorified 
Saviour,  who  guarantees  to  them  their  own  resurrection  and  glorifi- 
cation, even  in  their  disembodied  state,  blessed  and  waiting  in  peace 
the  dawning  which  will  make  even  their  bodies  alive  again.  They 
are  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  peace  of  blessed  inward  contemplation, 
and  blessed  exaltation.  They  are  in  the  heaven  of  glory,  but  this 
glory  is  still  awaiting  an  increase.  The  history  upon  earth  must  first 
have  passed  away  before  the  completion  in  heaven  comes  on." — (Chap. 
VI.  Sec.  in). 

Delitzsch  holds  that  in  this  intermediate  state  the  spirit  has  a 
certain  "phenomenal  corporeity  and  investiture."  Maintaining  the 
three-fold  distinction  of  Biblical  Psychology, — "  body,  soul,  and 
spirit " — he  regards  the  soul  as  the  principle  of  bodily  life  derived 
from  the  spirit.  This,  although  immaterial,  probably  adopts  the 
form  of  the  body,  which  the  spirit  through  it  ensouls ;  as  it  is  the 
outside  of  the  spirit,  so  it  is  the  inside  of  the  body,  and  continues  in 
the  other  world  in  that  form  which,  as  the  living  principle  of  the 
body,  it  had  assumed.  Its  appearance  remains  a  corporeal  one, 
though  immaterial.  In  this  way  Delitzsch  accounts  for  the  appear- 
ance of  Samuel  to  the  witch  of  Endor,  and  of  Moses  and  Elias  upon 
the  Mount  of  Transfiguration. 

Lt.  J.  P.  Lange  defines  the  soul  as  "a  kind  of  robe  for  the  spirit." 
He  believes  that  in  the  spirit  there  is  a  tendency  towards  the  assump- 
tion of  a  body;  and  hence,  in  the  intermediate  state,  the  spirit  will 
assimilate  from  the  materials  of  its  dwelling-place,  what  will  be  fitted 
to  itself,  and  thus  will  assume  an  organization  adapted  to  its  sphere. ' 

Though  such  speculations  have  no  basis  of  certainty,  they  find 

the  spirits  are  incredulous,  others  look  up  in  grateful  wonder.  Eve  is  meekly 
transported,  and  eager  to  follow  her  Deliverer, — the  long-hoped-for  "seed  of 
the  woman."  In  one  corner  of  the  picture  a  beautiful  boy  is  helping  a  com- 
panion out  of  Limbo,  and  many  are  assisting  others  to  escape,  while  the  door 
of  hope  is  open. 

1  Stud,  unci  Krit.  vol.  ix.  pp.  <J<)o-71o.  Translated  in  Selections  fromGerman 
Literature  by  Professors  B.  B.  Edwards  and  E.  A.  Park. 


286  THE   THEOLOGY   OP   CHEIST. 

sufficient  warrant  in  hints  or  suggestions  of  the  Scriptures,  to  stimu- 
late curiosity  upon  a  point  of  the  most  intense  personal  concern. 
And  the  Bible  seems  to  impose  no  limit  upon  such  speculative  in- 
quiry, provided  only  that  we  hold  fast  our  faith  in  Him  who  is  the 
resurrection  and  the  life. 


INDEX  OF  TEXTS  OF  SCRIPTURE. 


Page. 

Gen.  ii.  7 178 

"     9 168 

"    xvii.  1-17 

Ex.  xiii.  13 64 

"    xxi.  30 

"    xxx.  12 G3 

"      "      16 63 

Lev.  xxiv.  16 14") 

"      xxv.  24 63 

"      "      52 63 

Num.  xxi.  6 57 

"     7 58,  60 

"      8 57,58 

"  xxiv.  6 166 

"xxxv.  31 63 

Deut.  viii.  15 57 

1  Sam.xiv.  7 86 

2  Sam.  vii.  14 140 

"     xii.  23 175 

2  Kings  xxiii.  10 282 

1  Chron.  xxix.  18 86 

Ez.  iv.  8 52 

"    vi.  11 51 

"     "  18 52 

"    vii.  12 52 

"      "    26 52 

Neh.  ii.  8 166 

Job  xii.  3 

'•  xv.  12 86 

"  xix.  26 183 

"  xxx.  26 282 

Ps.  ii.  6 140 

"    "  7 140 

"  viii.  6 217 

"  xvi.  9 183 

Eccl.  ii.  5 

"  xii.  7 95 

Is.    v.  20 

"  viii.  22 282 

"  ix.   2 282 

"   x.    7 86 

"  xvi.  24 282 

"  xxxii.  4 

"  xliv.  20 

"    1.10 282 

"  li.  3 166 

"  liii.  11 215 

"  lxiii.  4 86 

Jer.  vii.  31 282 

"     "    32,33 282 

"    xxxi.  33 22 

"     34 22 

Ez.  xviii.  30 235 

"  xxxvi.  26 23 

"       "      27 

"    xxxvii 

Dan.  ii.  4 52 

"     vii.  27 131 


Dan.  vii.  28., 

"  xii.  2., 

Mac.  ii.  7., 

"    "  14.. 

"  xii.  45.. 
Wisd.  xvi.  2.. 

Matt.  i.  20.. 


n. 


Page. 

52 

183 

183 

181 

183 

235 

150 

281 

41 

41 

38 

43,  282 

150 

113,138 

113 

138 

113 

43,  84,  85 

.25,  42,  43,  150 
84 


mi 

83 

223 

,  224 

85 


2 

in 
in 

55 
55 


287 


288 


INDEX   OF   TEXTS   OF   SCRIPTURE. 


Matt.  x. 

7... 

Page. 

2 

282 

Matt.  xx\ 
"  xxvi 

"  xxvi 

Mark  i. 
"     iii. 

"    ix. 
"     x, 

"     xi. 
"     xii. 

"    xiii. 

"   xiv 
"     xv. 

"     xvi. 

Luke  i. 

"     iii. 
"    iv. 

"    vi. 
"  viii. 
"   ix. 

"        X. 

"     xi. 
"     xii 

i.    54 

Page. 
113 

;: :: 

28... 
32... 

:. 223, 

2S1,  282 

220 

220 

.      20 

40 

43 

46 

51 

54 

i.    18 

19 

281 

139 

11  it 

281 

52 

"  xi. 

2 

284 

5... 

2 

208 

139 

, 267 

23... 

281 

282 

156 

"    " 

25... 
26.. 
27.. 

121 

130 

14 

15 

24 

7 

11 

11 

38......".... 

2,19 

"  xii. 

146, 

142 

154 

281 

138 

138 

11    it 

154 

269 

u    ii 

269 

||      :t 

33... 

35... 

....38,  41 

281 

it      u 

45 

21-93 

36 

43 

47 

48 

268 

"  xiii. 

10.. 
34... 

269 

269 

213,  233 

213,  218 

206 

6 

40 

281 

282,  283 

>i      « 

42... 
43... 
49... 
54... 
22... 

.'.".'.'."."'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'."'.1'.'.'.'28 

282 

283 

28 

"  xiv. 

24 

28 

45 

22 

62,  267 

"      XV. 

"    xvi. 

24... 
18... 

..  2,280 

126 

126 

27 

25 

35 

36 

11 

32 

21 

251 

,.      .. 

21.... 

282 

267 

"      "... 

27.... 

224 

150 

151 

"      " 

6.... 

28i 

142 

282,283 

ii     ii 

11.... 
19.... 
18.... 
28.... 
22.... 

.'.97,  126 

130 

281 

139 

"     XX. 

"  xxi. 

43 

16 

17 

35 

76  79 

24 

53,69,70 

153 

150 

24 

ii      i 

41.... 

24 

"  xxii. 

21 

22 

150 

22.... 
30.... 
33.... 
37.... 
41... 

7 

187 

'.....      7 

...26,  SS 
..26,267 

150 

138 

"      " 

4 

9 

151 

138 

ii      ii 

22 

5,6 

"   xxiii 

6 

27.... 

39 

39 

41 

35 

45 

138 

219 

"   xxiv 

33.... 
22.... 
30.'.'.'. 
30.... 

22.'5,  2S2 
114,  282 

204 

206 

224 

83 

138 

11         » 

19 

"     XXT 

62 

£9 

19... 

204 

206,  282 

u        il 

22 

267 

32... 

204 

126 

ii        i 

20 

26 

ii        it 

34... 

..208,  211,  215,  218 

220,  222 

26 

u        it 

22 

39 

26 

..        .. 

41... 
46... 

".'.7.'.'."'.75,"224"'226 

.282,  283 
212 

41 

"  xxvi 

7 

14 

112 

it     i 

.121, 130 
281 

198 

■i     ii 

23 

47 

205 

•i     ii 

ec... 

113 

229 

INDEX    OF    TEXTS    OF   SCRIPTURE. 


289 


Page. 

Luke  xiii.        23 127,  130 

2 39 

3 39,  281 

4 40 

"        "  23 282 

"        "  24 69 

25 213 

30 213 

"     wi.        13 42 

"       "     19-31 281 

"        "  23 223 

"    xvii.         2 282 

20 25 

"        "  21 25 

27 281 

29 281 

"    xviii.     1-9 126 

"      xx.         36 211 

38 171 

41 267 

"      xxi.       34 206 

"     xxii.      19 212,  243 

"     xxiii.     34 121 

"        "  42 161 

43 161,  2S1 

"   xxiv.  15-22 281 

"        "  39 95 

47 2 

John    i.  9 272 

15 140 

18 140 

32 150 

34 140 

49 136 

"       ii.  4 272 

4"".'.!".'.!'.'.".".'.'.'.'.!!!'.'."'.!!!!!!!     33 

8 44 

12 45 

14 50,  51,  219 

"        "  15 50,  53,  62,  67,  219 

"  16 49,  67,  141 

17 07,  77,  198 

18 62,  76,  201,  222 

19 73,  200 

20 73 

"       iv.  2 1 

14 14 

21 95 

23 93,     94 

24 93 

v.  15 268 

"        "  18 143 

"        "  19 146 

21 180,  190 

22 207 

"        "  24 67,  198 

25 141,  187 

26 141,  190 

27 198,  199,  205 

"        "  28 205,  224 

29 206 

"  40 73 

"        vi.        32 237 

33 237 

34 88 

"        "  35 237 

37 69,  70,    77 

38 88 

39 70 

40 69,  188 

"        "  44 70,  im 

19 


r.v;E. 

46 

267 

47 

51 

62,  237,  238 

52 

57 

238 

58 

211 

60 

62 

238 

63 

237 

68 

5,  7,  18 

69 

7,  18,  141 

70 

25 

17 

248 

46 

50 

S3 

21 

208 

24 

53,  208 

28 

50,  52,  248 

37 

52 

44 

40,  218 

35 

140 

30 

140 

39 

202 

41 

202 

11 

02 

15 

246,  267 

17 

246 

18 

22 

14-1 

24 

143 

25 

143 

30 

140 

35 

151 

4 

Hi 

23 

180 

25 

11,  179,  180,  193,  251 

26 

194 

27 

141 

23 

56 

24 

51,  56,  268 

27 

56,  121 

28 

121 

31 

56 

32 

50,  65 

47 

198 

48 

202 

49 

249 

-t 

212 

2 

171 

3 

171,  216 

6 

133,  219 

9 

147,  209 

10 

18,  249 

13 

127 

16 

2,  160 

17 

156 

21 

27,  218 

23 

20,  147 

24 

249 

26 

150,  152 

7 

127 

11 

27 

19 

197 

22 

201 

24 

202 

26 

152 

7 

150 

8 

44 

13 

44,151 

14 

152 

10 

154 

290 


INDEX    OF    TEXTS    OF    SCRIPTURE. 


"  10.. 

"  14.. 

"  17.. 

"  22.. 

"  23.. 

"  24.. 

"  37.. 

xviii.  27.. 

xix.  7.. 

"  10.. 

"  11.. 

"  39.. 

xx.  22.. 


•age. 
.  154 
.  218 
.  158 
,252 
.  28 
.  252 
.  147 
.  249 
.  249 
.  248 
.  210 
7  249 
,152 
.  218 
,216 
.,210 
.  2 
.  253 
.  145 
.  113 
.  113 


Page. 

John  xx.  31 273 

Acts  i.    5 150,153 

"     "     6 154 

"     "     7 45,251 

"    iv.  21."'".'"".' .'.""*.""'."'.!'.".'.'.'.!  235 

"   xx.  38 179 

ICor.  ii.  2 4 

"    vi.  13 178 

"     "    19 178 

"    xv.  24 174 

2  Cor.  v.  1-5 172 

"     xi.  24 243 

"      xii.  4 165,  170,  2S4 

Eph.  iv.  8 281 

i  ol.  ii.  15 284 

Hel>.  x.  19 285 

1  Thess.  iv.  16 175 

"     17 175 

IPet.  iii.  19 284 

"      iv.     6 284 

Uohniv.  18 235 

Rev.  ii.     7 170 

"      ii.  17 165 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS. 


ABSOLUTE  belief  in  the,  90, 120. 

JESCHYLUS  on  Resurrection,  181. 

ESTHETIC  the  in  worship,  100. 

Alamos  eternal,  236. 

'Avdo-Tao-is  meaning  of  in  Classic  Greek,  180;  in  the  Septuagint,  183.  As 
taught  by  Christ,  184. 

ANTHROPOLOGY  of  Christ,  10. 

ARISTOTLE,  theology  of,  80. 

ATHEISM  denies  Providence,  115. 

BAPTISM,  significance  of,  1,  43. 

BAUR  on  John's  gospel,  265. 

BELIEVERS  exempt  from  death,  194;  their  union  with  Christ,  171,  217. 

BIRTH,  the  new,  30 ;  Nieodemus  on,  33,  35.  Phrase  of  the  Rabbis,  34.  A 
spiritual  renewal,  35.  Men  desire  a  new  life,  37.  New  birth  neces- 
sitated by  sin,  38.  Yet  is  more  than  repenting,  42.  From  above, 
43.     No  greater  mystery  than  the  wind,  46. 

BLASPHEMY,  Christ  charged  with,  143. 

BLESSEDNESS  of  Saints,  211.     Of  Heaven,  212. 

BLEEK  on  the  genuineness  of  John's  Gospel,  273. 

BODY,  Christianity  cares  for  the,  178.  Resurrection  of  the,  178,  184.  Taught 
by  Egyptians  and  Persians,  182.  Belief  among  the  Jews,  183-186. 
Basis  of  identity,  187.     The  intermediate,  285. 

"BORN  AGAIN,"  see  BIRTH. 

BROWNING,  268. 

BUCKLE,  Theory  of,  106. 

BUDDHISTS,  84,  107. 

CAESAR,  tribute  to,  7;  triumphs  of  Roman  and  French,  257. 

CATACOMBS,  Church  in  the,  175. 

CERTAINTY  and  Freedom  harmonized,  116. 

CHALDEE,  influence  of,  on   New  Testament,  52,  184. 

CHRIST  a  Preacher,  1.  His  doctrines,  2,  4  ;  and  Socrates  compared,  3,  269. 
Quality  of  His  Preaching,  6,  18.  Brevity,  8.  Simplicity,  9,  12. 
Matter  of,  9.  Manner  of,  II.  Its  depth,  11.  Clearness,  12.  Full- 
ness, 249.  Presence  of  Christ  is  the  Kingdom,  27.  "Lifted  up," 
50.  Virtue  of  His  death,  53.  His  rule  of  Life,  88.  Love  of  Na- 
ture, 101.  One  with  Father,  133,  146.  The  Son  of  God,  136. 
Preached  Himself,  134,  265.  Silence  of,  160,  250.  Judge,  199.  As 
Man,  207.     Presence  in  Heaven,  216,  219. 

CHRISTIANITY,  literature  of,  15.  For  universal  diffusion,  102.  A  finality 
in  Religion,  196. 

CHRISTIANS,  Faith  of  primitive,  175. 

CHURCH,  a  symbol  of  the  kingdom,  29.  Founded  on  Christ,  46.  Holy 
Spirit  dwells  in,  154.     In  the  Catacombs,  175. 

CICERO,  orations  of,  8,  12. 

COMFORTER,  150. 

COMMUNION  of  Saint  Jerome,  173.     Of  the  Saints,  212. 


202  INDEX   OF    SUBJECTS. 

COMTE,  Philosophy  of,  10?. 

CONDEMNATION,  danger  of,  50.  Present,  200.  Final,  200.  Deliverai.ee 
from,  200. 

CONDITIONS  of  Prayer,  130.     Of  Salvation,  219. 

CONFESSING  Christ,  220. 

CONFUCIUS,  His  doctrine  of  piety,  101. 

DANTE,  161,  173,  177,234. 

DEAD,  resurrection  of  the,  178. 

DEATH,  Christ's  necessary  to  salvation,  54.  For  the  whole  world,  56.  Pre- 
determined, 57.    A  ransom,  63,  65,  67.    Destroyed  for  believers,  194. 

DELITZSCH,  on  the  Intermediate  state,  284;  on  Biblical  psychology,  285. 

DEMOSTHENES,  orations  of,  8,  12. 

DEVELOPMENT,  doctrine  of,  17. 

DICKENS,  works  of,  8;  testimony  to  Christianity,  16. 

DIVINITY,  Christ's  not  at  first  declared,  137.  Claimed  in  the  title  Son  of  God, 
145.     In  His  self-consciousness,  147.     Of  Holy  Spirit,  155. 

DOCTRINE,  need  of,  4.  Christ's  doctrine  of  God,  9,  12-14.  Of  Man,  10. 
Of  the  resurrection,  11.  Power  of  Christ's  in  Society,  16.  Upon 
the  heart,  17. 

DORE,  234. 

DRAWING  of  the  Father,  71,  72,  74. 

EGYPTIAN  doctrine  of  Immortality,  11,  164.     Of  Resurrection,  182. 

ESSENES   82 

ETERNAL  PUNISHMENT,  236. 

EWALD.  history  of  Israel,  20,  60. 

EZEKIEL,  his  spiritual  kingdom,  25. 

FAITH,  preached  by  Christ,  28,  53.     A   looking,  59,  62.     Its  obligation,  70. 

Its  necessity,  75,  76.     Its  relation  to  works,  88,  90.     Of  primitive 

Christians,  175. 
FATALISM  denies  Providence,  115. 
FATHER,  drawing  of,  71,  72,  74.     God  as,  97,  110,  112.     Prayer  to  the,  120, 

122.      A  living  spirit,  121.     Christ  one  with,  133,  146.     Father  in 

Heaven,  218. 
FATHERS   CHURCH,  doctrine  of  Paradise,  162.     Testimony  to  John's  Gos- 
pel, 271. 
FREEDOM  and  Certainty  harmonized,  116,  see  "WILL. 
FRUITS  good,  90,  221.     Christianity  tested  by,  91. 
FUTURE  STATE,  Punishment,  222.     Christ's  doctrine  of,  231. 
GHOST  HOLY,  see  Holy  Spirit. 
GNOSTICISM  in  John's  Gospel,  265. 
GOD,  kingdom  of,  19.     Its  consummation,  213.     A   Father,  97,  110,  112.     A 

personal  spirit,  94.     Answers  prayer,  127.     The  Son  of,  136,  seq. 
GOSPEL,  as  Christ  preached  it,  19. 
GOSPEL  OF   JOHN,  68.     Characteristics  of,  264.    Strauss  and   Baur  on,  265, 

Internal  evidences  of  genuineness,  266.     External   do.,  271.     Bleek 

on,  273.     Theology  of,  279. 
GOSPELS,  inspiration  of,  159.     The  Synoptical,  264. 
GRANT,  General,  105,  216. 

HADES,  164,  196,  280.     Christ's  visit  to,  284.     Bronzino's  Picture  of,  284. 
HEART,  wickedness  of,  38,  40,  83.     Treasure  of.  85.     The  Heart  defined,  86. 
HOLY  SPIRIT,  The,  150.     Revealer  of  Truth,  150.     Source  of  miracles,  153. 

Abides  in  the  Church,  154.     A  divine  person,  150. 
HOMER,  "Resurrection"  in  the  Iliad,  181. 
IMMORTALITY,  belief  in,  among   the  Egyptians,  11.  104;  among  the  Jews, 

163;  as  taught  by  Christ,  171. 
INCARNATION  of  Christ,  208. 
INFALLIBLE,  Jesus  the  infallible  Truth,  249. 
INSPIRATION  of  Gospels,  157. 
INTERMEDIATE  state,  161,  284.     Delitzsch  on  the,  284.     Lange,  285. 


INDEX    OF   SUBJECTS.  293 

JEREMIAH,  his  spiritual  prophecies,  21. 

JOHN,  see  GOSPEL  of. 

JUDAISM,  277. 

JUDGMENT,  198.  Public,  199.  At  death,  203.  Universal,  201.  Formal, 
206.     Final,  207. 

KINGDOM  OF  GOD,  in  Old  Testament,  19.  A  spiritual  redemption,  20. 
Described  by  Jeremiah,  21.  A  kingdom  within  Israel,  22.  Devel- 
oped by  Christ,  23.  Laws  of  purity  and  love,  25.  Privileges  of 
the  kingdom,  26.  Its  rewards  and  joys,  27.  Must  be  entered  by 
faith,  28.  Van  Oosterzeo's  views  of,  30,  31.  Consummation  of 
kingdom,  213.     In  the  hereafter,  217. 

KdAacri;,  meaning  in  classic  writers,  235.     In  the  Scriptures,  235. 

LAW  in  Nature,  224,  227.     Moral,  229,  231. 

LANGE.  on  the  intermediate  state,  285. 

LAZARUS,  resurrection  of,  185,  191. 

LIFE,  a  new,  desired  by  all,  37.  The  new,  in  Heaven,  214.  Everlasting,  179, 
221.     The  knowledge  of  God,  253. 

LUTHER,  102. 

Avrpov,  meaning  of,  63. 

MAN,  his  sinfulness,  3S,  83.  Longs  for  God,  93.  Dignity  of  his  nature,  99. 
A  spiritual  power,  131.  "Son  of,  "  199.  Subject  of  moral  law, 
229,  231. 

MATERIALISM,  4. 

MICHAEL  ANGELO,  234. 

MILTON,  234. 

MIRACLES,  from  the  Holy  Ghost,  153.     In  John's  Gospel,  268. 

MOSAISM,  276. 

MOSES,  the  brazen  servient,  57,  seq.  67. 

NAPOLEON,  131,  257. 

NATHAN  AEL,  137,  140. 

NATURE,  worship  of,  101.  Christ's  love  of,  101.  Course  of,  108,  lit,  123. 
Judgment  in,  200.     Laws  of,  224,  227.     Penalties  in,  224,  226. 

NEANDER,  240,  241,  254,  270. 

NICODEMUS,  32,  34,  36,  44,  49,  54,  68,  140. 

NITZSCH,  174. 

ODIC  force   the,  129. 

PACIFIC  RAILROAD,  257,  263. 

PANTHEISM  denies  Providence-  115. 

PARADISE,  160.  Not  identical  with  Heaven,  161.  Early  fathers  on,  162. 
Reformers  on,  162.  Dante's,  164.  Sanscrit  derivation  of  the  word, 
165.  Septuagint.  166.  Rabbis,  167.  Christ's  meaning,  168.  The 
primitive,  168.     Paradise  defined,  169. 

PAUL,  conversion  of,  45.     In  prison,  102.     In  Paradise,  170. 

PERICLES,  eloquence  of,  7. 

PHARISEES,  39,  1j4,  22 J. 

PHILO,  doctrine  of  Angels   95. 

PLATO,    2,  14,  80,  257,  269. 

POSITIVISM,  107. 

PRAYER,  119.  An  instinct  of  the  soul,  119.  Schleiermacher's  definition,  119. 
Warranted  bv  Providence,  120,  123.  The  address  of  the  soul  to 
its  Father,  120.  Christ's  manner  in,  121.  For  physical  necessities, 
123.  Has  positive  influence  with  God,  124.  Perseveranco  in 
prayer,  126.  Prof.  Tyndall's  objection,  128.  Conditions  of,  130. 
Power  of  prayer,  131. 

PREACHING  Christ,  4.  6.  Need  of  doctrinal,  4.  Christ's  own,  2.  At 
Nazareth.  6.  Effects  of,6,  15,  18.  Its  brevity,  8.  Simplicity  of,  9, 
12.  Matter  of,  9.  Manner  of,  11.  Its  depth,  11.  Clearness,  12. 
Grandeur  of  its  range,  255.     Summary  of  His  doctrine,  259. 

PRESENCE,  Christ's  in  the  soul,  27.     In  Heaven,  216.    The  "Real,"  242,  246. 

PROGRESS,  friends  of,  106.     Proves  Providence,  106. 


294  INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS. 

PKOPHETISM,  277. 

PROVIDENCE,  104.  Irreconcilable  with  Positivism,  108.  In  the  "course 
of  Nature,"  108,  115.  Universal,  and  particular,  111.  Direct  in- 
tervention of,  or  "special,"  113.  And  free-will,  115.  General  laws, 
116.     Warrants  Prayer,  123. 

PSYCHOLOGY  of  the  Bible,  172.     Delitzsch  on  the,  284. 

PUNISHMENT,  Future,  222.  Positive  and  personal,  230.  Christ's  doctrine 
of,  231.     Eternal,  233.     Weiss  on,  280. 

RANSOM,  Christ's  death  a,  63. 

RAPHAEL,  257. 

RATIONALISM,  4,  81. 

REASON  AND  RELIGION,  91,  114,  117,  200. 

REDEEMER,  Jehovah  a,  20,  22,  23,  41.     Jesus  a,  28,  65,  194. 

REDEMPTION,  not  arbitrary,  70.  Grandeur  of,  176,  and  Resurrection,  195, 
and  Heaven,  219. 

RELIGION,  nature  of,  79.  An  Instinct  of  man,  79.  Types  of  before  Christ, 
79,  82.  In  the  heart,  83.  Must  be  spiritual,  84.  A  holy  prin- 
ciple, 86.     An  elective  principle,  89.     Rational,  91. 

REPENTANCE,  required  for  entering  the  kingdom  of  God,  28,  41.  Mean- 
ing of,  42,  73. 

RESURRECTION,  178.  Egyptian  belief  in,  182.  Persian  notion  of,  182. 
Apocryphal  doctrine  of,  183.  Jewish  belief  in,  183-186.  Of  Laza- 
rus, 185,  190.  Of  Christ,  188,  192.  Jesus,  the  Resurrection,  190, 
192.     None  for  the  wicked,  283. 

RETRIBUTION,  in  Nature,  225.  In  Society,  228,  233.  Christ's  doctrine 
of,  225.    Justice  of,  227. 

REVELATION  in  the  Theocracy,  20;  Complete  in  Christ,  248,  250,  256. 

RITUALISM,  4,  91,  100. 

SACRAMENT,  of  the  supper,  211.  In  the  doctrine,  237.  Neander  on  the, 
240.  Council  of  Trent,  241.  Moehler,  242.  Friends'  view  of, 
243.     Appointed  by  Christ,  243,  245.     Virtue  of  the,  246, 

SADDUCEES,  Christ's  answers  to,  7,  186. 

SAINTS,  blessedness  of,  211.     Union  with  Christ,  217. 

SALVATION,  how  made  possible,  49.  Provided  for  all,  67,  69.  No  limita- 
tion in  plan,  69.  Limited  by  unbelief,  76.  Free  to  all,  71.  Not 
universal  in  fact,  75. 

SAUL,  conversion  of,  45. 

SCHLEIERMACHER,  119. 

SCOTT,  SIR  WALTER,  Works  of,  8.    Testimony  to  the  Bible,  16. 

SCRIBES,  39. 

SEPTUAGINT,  63,  166,  183. 

SERPENTS,  in  the  wilderness,  57.     The  brazen,  58. 

SHAKESPEARE,  257. 

SIN,  universality  of,  38-40.  Requires  the  "New  Birth,"  38.  Proceeds  from 
the  heart,  40,  83. 

SILENCE  of  Christ,  160,  250. 

SLAVERY,  Horrors  of,  104.     Destruction  of,  105. 

SMITH,  Sidney,  124. 

SOCRATES,  compared  with  Christ,  3,  14,  269. 

SOJOURNER  TRUTH,  104,  117. 

SON  OF  GOD,  136-145.    A  title  of  Divinity,  145. 

SON  of  MAN,  199,  207. 

SPIRIT,  Nature  of,  94.     God  a,  94.     Triumph  of,  196. 

SPIRIT  HOLY,  see  HOLY  SPIRIT. 

STATE,  intermediate,  162. 

STRAUSS  on  John's  Gospel,  265. 

SUPPER,  the  Lords,  211,  240-247. 

SWEDENBORG,  194. 

SYMBOL,  the  Brazen  Serpent,  58.  Healing  by  the  sign,  61.  Christ's  use  of, 
242. 


INDEX    OF    SUBJECTS.  205 

TATTLER,  102. 

TENNYSON,  160. 

THEOCRACY,  Spiritual,  87.     See,  KINGDOM  OF  GOD. 

THEOLOGY,  the  Christian  and  the  dogmatic  contrasted,  3.  Christ's  our  Sac- 
rament, 237.  Christ's  doctrine  complete,  248.  Neander  on,  254. 
Vast  range  of  Christ's,  254.     Of  John's  Gospel.  279. 

THERAPEUT.E,  82. 

THIBET,  prayer-cylinder,  84. 

THOMAS,  Confession  of  148. 

TINTORETTO,  234. 

TRANSUBSTANTIATION,  241. 

TRUTH,  "Sojourner,"  104,  117.  Revealed  by  the  Spirit,  153.  As  Judge,  201. 

TUBINGEN  SCHOOL,  265. 

TYNDALL,  PROF.,  his  objection  to  prayer,  128. 

YAN  OOSTERZEE,  Theology  of  the  New  Testament,  30,  275. 

WARNINGS  of  Christ,  223. 

WEISS  on  Future  Punishment,  280. 

WILL,  free,  74,  89,  15, 123. 

WINE,  the  new,  214. 

WORKS,  good,  88,  90,  221. 

WORSHIP,  spiritual,  93.     Must  be  addressed  to  God,  95. 

Outward,  its  uses,  96.     The  sesthetic,  100.     Sentimental,  101. 

WORSHIPPERS,  the  true,  102. 

XENOPHON,  165. 


